15A NCAC 18A .0914      LABORATORY PROCEDURES

(a) All laboratory analyses used for the evaluation of shellfish growing areas shall be performed by a laboratory found by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Shellfish Laboratory Evaluation Officer or by an FDA-certified State Shellfish Laboratory Evaluation Officer to conform or provisionally conform to the requirements established under the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP).

(b) All methods for the analysis of shellfish and shellfish growing waters that are used for the evaluation of shellfish growing areas shall be cited in the latest edition of the NSSP Guide for the Control of Molluscan Shellfish, Section IV: Guidance Documents, subsection Approved NSSP Laboratory Tests, which is incorporated by reference, including subsequent amendments and editions, and available at https://www.fda.gov/food/federalstate-food-programs/national-shellfish-sanitation-program-nssp at no cost, or validated for use by the NSSP under the Constitution, Bylaws and Procedures of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, which is incorporated by reference, including subsequent amendments and editions, and available at https://www.issc.org/constitution-bylaws-procedures, at no cost. If there is an immediate or ongoing critical need for a method and no method approved for use within the NSSP exists, the following may be used:

(1)           a validated Association of Analytical Communities, Bacteriological Analysis Manual, or Environmental Protection Agency method; or

(2)           an Emergency Use Method as set forth in the latest approved edition of the NSSP Guide for the Control of Molluscan Shellfish.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 113-134; 113-182; 113-221.2; 143B-289.52;

Eff. June 1, 1989;

Amended Eff. September 1, 1991; September 1, 1990;

Readopted Eff. May 1, 2021.