A2LA is proud to announce that it has been formally recognized by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) for its Competition Animal Drug Testing Laboratory Program. While A2LA has been viewed as a partner and associate in the horse racing industry for many years, HIWU recently said in an official statement that A2LA is formally recognized by the organization to provide accreditations to ILAC G7 and ISO/IEC 17025:2017 that meet HIWU standards.
The statement reads, “HIWU recognizes that, as an ILAC recognized accreditation body and our evaluation of their auditing practices, A2LA provides both accreditations to HIWU standards.”
According to the HIWU website, “The Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) was established in 2022 by Drug Free Sport International (DFSI) to administer the rules and enforcement mechanisms of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program.”
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority was formed after the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law in 2020. The authority is “responsible for drafting and enforcing uniform safety rules and anti-doping and medication control rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission, HISA is composed of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program and the ADMC Program.”
The ADMC program requires laboratories to perform proficiency testing and to be accredited by an organization that provides accreditation based on The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) G7 and standard ISO/IEC 17025.
A2LA’s Competition Animal Drug Testing Laboratory Program is designed to meet the requirements of the Association of Official Racing Chemists (AORC), which requires ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation as well as participation in applicable Proficiency Testing Programs. Internationally accepted accreditation criteria can be found in ILAC G7:04/2021 Accreditation Requirements and Operating Criteria for Horseracing Laboratories. The program covers a wide variety of screening and confirmatory methodologies for the detection and identification of prohibited substances and their metabolites under state or regulatory authorities.
To learn more about A2LA’s Competition Animal Drug Testing Laboratory Program, visit https://a2la.org/accreditation/competition-animal-drug-testing/.