WADA approves lifting of Analytical Testing Restriction on the Romanian Laboratory

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announces that the Chair of WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo), Witold Bańka, has approved lifting the Analytical Testing Restriction (ATR) on the Romanian Doping Control Laboratory in Bucharest, which was first imposed on 1 May 2021.

The Chair’s decision, which is consistent with the 4 September 2022 recommendation of WADA’s Laboratory Expert Advisory Group (Lab EAG), took effect on 16 September 2022. Consequently, as of this date, the Laboratory was able to resume all of its anti-doping activities. As part of the decision to lift the ATR, the Laboratory shall seek a second opinion before reporting an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) or Atypical Finding (ATF) based on GC/C/IRMS analyses for a period of twelve months of the date of this decision.

The ATR, related to the Gas Chromatography / Combustion / Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analytical method, had been imposed on 1 May 2021 for a period of up to six months as a result of the Romanian Laboratory’s voluntary disclosure that it was unable to meet the requirements of WADA’s updated Technical Document on IRMS (TD2021IRMS) before its effective date.

In November 2021 and again in May 2022, in accordance with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL), the ATR was extended twice, for six months at a time, as COVID-19 restrictions in Romania caused temporary work interruptions and limited staff availability to work on the necessary GC/C/IRMS method development. In August 2022, WADA’s Lab EAG reviewed the requisite documentation provided by the Romanian Laboratory. The documentation included evidence of the full implementation of the TD2022IRMS requirements into the GC/C/IRMS procedure, as well as evidence that the Laboratory’s GC/C/IRMS method was fully validated and demonstrated as fit-for-purpose.

Under the ISL, WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping laboratories, thereby ensuring that they maintain the highest quality standards.