The role of International Standards

The Code functions together with the WADA International Standards and various Guidelines or Models of Best Practice which may be adopted by anti-doping organisations, in relation to the processes contained in the Standards. Guidelines are not mandatory, whereas Signatories must apply and comply with the International Standards in order to fulfil their obligations under the Code. The Standards are an indispensable part of the regime under the Code, and the Articles of the Code make direct reference to them where testing, the analysis of samples to prove doping, the designation of Prohibited Substances and Methods and the grant of Therapeutic Use Exemptions are referred to. The most obvious example of the essential role of the Standards would be the violation of doping under Article 2.1. Testing for a prohibited substance has to be carried out in conformity with the International Standard for Testing (Article 5.2 Code). The sample obtained has to be analysed by a WADA laboratory accredited under the International Standard for Laboratories if doping is to be established (Article 6.1 and notes to Code). There can only be a doping violation if a prohibited substance or method designated under the Prohibited List is detected, and on review of a positive test, the anti-doping organisation responsible for result management will have to ascertain whether the substance detected is subject to a Therapeutic Use Exemption granted under the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions.

In many important areas, the Code provides the general framework, while the Standards provide the detail. An anti-doping organisation which agrees to the Code, and an athlete or other person who is bound to it, will agree to the application of both the Code and the Standards. Non-compliance will mean that a party is in breach of its obligations under the Code. The consequence will depend on the particular circumstances, but non-compliance may mean that an anti-doping organisation cannot establish that the process has been carried out which is necessary to prove an anti-doping rule violation or that an athlete or other person has committed an anti-doping rule violation.