Subsection 2: Designation procedures and arrangements

Only those organisations may be designated as national centres of reference: 1° which undertake to fulfil the missions mentioned in article D. 1413-46 and specified in the general specifications and in the specific specifications ; 2° Which have qualified staff, premises and equipment enabling them to carry out the tasks assigned to them, where appropriate in association with a maximum of three laboratories, the latter being designated “National Reference Centres-Associated…

The Minister for Health, acting on a proposal from the Director General of the National Public Health Agency, shall draw up a list of national reference centres for a period of five years, specifying, where applicable, whether they are designated as “coordinating laboratory”, “associated laboratory” or “expert laboratory”. These laboratories form the network of national reference centres.

In order to respond to an unmet public health need or priority or to an exceptional health situation: 1° New national centres of reference may be added to the list mentioned in Article D. 1413-49 during their term of office, following the opinion of the Committee of National Centres of Reference and on a proposal from the Director General of the National Public Health Agency. They are appointed from structures…

National centres of reference, “associated national centres of reference-laboratories” and “national centres of reference-expert laboratories” carry out their missions within the framework of agreements signed with the Agence nationale de santé publique, which include: 1° A five-year work programme drawn up in compliance with the specifications mentioned in article D. 1413-47 ; 2° A description of the structure’s resources: number and qualifications of staff and nature of the technical facilities.