Canada's Largest Beef Producing Province Selects Bio-Rad Rapid BSE Test Alberta Initiates New Surveillance Program at Enhanced Provincial Laboratory HERCULES, Calif., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (AMEX: BIO; BIO.B), amultinational manufacturer and distributor of life science research products and clinical diagnostics, announced today that the Province of Alberta in Canada has chosen Bio-Rad's automated TeSeE(R) test for use in its enhanced BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) surveillance program. The largest beef producing and finishing province in Canada, Alberta's federally regulated beef industry processed 2.1 million head of cattle, or 68 percent of the Canadian total, in 2003. "We look forward to supporting Alberta in its BSE surveillance program," said Brad Crutchfield, Bio-Rad's Vice President of Life Science. "With our experience working with more than 500 labs in 25 countries faced with the discovery of BSE, we stand ready to assist Alberta's government in the development of a world class animal disease and food safety surveillance system." With the announcement of the selection of Bio-Rad as a testing partner, the Alberta government noted that Bio-Rad's automated TSE (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy) tests for BSE in cattle, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer and elk and Scrapie in sheep and goats are all internationally recognized by the Office International Des Epizooties (OIE). Alberta has a mandatory CWD testing policy for all farmed cervids (elk and deer), and performed more than 10,000 CWD tests in 2003. Bio-Rad's TeSeE(R) test kit runs on an automated robotics platform that speeds sample preparation, enabling laboratories to provide faster results. The testing platform can process up to 1,000 samples in an eight-hour time period, provides the highest level of sensitivity in a BSE screening method and will produce results in just four hours. Bio-Rad's BSE test is the most widely used test in the world. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (http://www.bio-rad.com/) is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of life science research products and clinical diagnostics. It is based in Hercules, California, and serves more than 70,000 research and industry customers worldwide through a network of more than 30 wholly owned subsidiary offices. Various statements made within this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the Securities and Exchange Commission's "safe harbor" provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements contained herein involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from the Company's expectations. DATASOURCE: Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. CONTACT: In Canada, Susan Berg, Corporate Communications for Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., +1-510-741-6063, or ; or Jackie Asante of Optimum Public Relations, +1-604-647-2966, or , for Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Web site: http://www.bio-rad.com/

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