Brazil will have its anti-doping laboratory back in time for the Olympic Games.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) lifted the suspension on the Brazilian Doping Control Laboratory (LBCD/LADETEC) at a meeting of its executive committee and foundation board in Montreal, Canada on Wednesday. Brazil’s sports minister, George Hilton, and the national secretary of the Brazilian Doping Control Authority (ABCD), Marco Aurélio Klein, were also in attendance.

The LBCD lost its accreditation in 2013, after failing to meet Wada’s standards in blind tests due to outdated equipment. In March 2015, the agency approved the analysis of blood samples for athlete’s biological passports at the Brazilian laboratory, the first step towards full reaccreditation.

The process of securing Wada’s approval began in August 2014, when the laboratory inaugurated its new offices at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). The new building cost R$134 million (US$45 million), with R$104 million (US$34 million) coming from the ministry of sport, and a further R$28 million (US$9 million) from the ministry of education, which also supplied a further R$54 million (US$18 million) for the purchase of equipment and other materials.

George Hilton published a statement on the Brazilian sports ministry’s website which said that the new anti-doping laboratory will be one of the principal legacies of the Rio 2016 Games. But he issued a note of caution “There is still some way to go to ensure we achieve the level of excellence required to ensure fair play in all sports,” he wrote. “Wada have told us that the creation of an appeals court and the certification of the ABCD as the sole anti-doping authority in Brazil are essential, and we are taking steps to ensure we fulfil those requirements.”

To ensure its reaccreditation, the LBCD was subject to almost nine months of testing by Wada. Five batches of samples were sent by the agency to the laboratory for testing, with the LBCD’s own material also subject to Wada scrutiny. The full accreditation will be in effect ahead of the first test events, in July 2015.

The head of the Latin American and Caribbean office of Wada, Maria José Pesce, said that the agency will continue to monitor LBCD closely, with the Brazilian laboratory obliged to provide at least 3,000 tests every year to retain its accredited status.

“The pressure is on for Brazil ahead of the Rio 2016 Games,” she said. “It is clear that the goal of Wada is to ensure the city has an accredited laboratory, but ultimately this depends on its performance. The will is there, but it needs work to pass through all the technical tests, which are very demanding and follow the standards of international laboratories.” There are 34 Wada-accredited laboratories worldwide, with only one other in South America (in Bogotá, Colombia).

After the successful outcome of the meeting, Marco Aurélio Klein, the national secretary of the ABCD, said, “As soon as we get back to Brazil we are going to work out the quickest way to start the process of sending all of our samples to the LBCD. This is very important because we have a target of 2,500 tests by the end of the year, three times the amount we have done before.”

LBCD becomes the 34th laboratory in the world to be accredited by Wada, and the second in South America (Photo: Brazilian Ministry of Sport)