Section 14 (1) of IPAN Act states as follows: a person shall be deemed to practise as a public analyst if, in consideration of remuneration to be received, and whether by himself or in partnership with any person, he:-
(a) engages himself in the practice of public analysis or holds himself out to the public analyst or
(b) renders professional service or assistance in or about matters of principle or detail relating to public analysis
(c) renders any other service which may by regulations made by the council, with the approval of the Minister, be designated as service constituting practice as public analyst.

LABORATORIES USED FOR PUBLIC ANALYSIS

Section 14 (2) of IPAN Act provides that a person registered as a member shall be eligible to practise the analysis of food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices and a certificate issued under the hand of a registered member shall constitute sufficient evidence as to the validity of the contents in any court of law or tribunal provided that the laboratory where the analysis was effected has been designated, registered and fully licensed by the appropriate authority which is Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria.

OUR STRUCTURE

The Institutes Governing Council consist of the President, who is also the Chairman, two Vice-President, Registrar, some elected representatives and appointees of government. The Council is responsible to the Hon. Minister of Health.
The Registrar who is the Chief Executive and Chief Accounting Officer of the Institute is the head of Administration and responsible for the smooth day-to-day running of the Institute
There are (9) departments: Membership and Training; Laboratory Services; Regulatory and Enforcement; Administration; Finance and Accounts; Library and Information Services; Planning, Public Relation and Business Unit, Research and Statistics and legal. Each department is under a Head of Department who along with the Registrar formed the Management Team of the Institute.

The Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN) is a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Health, is the regulatory body agency of the profession of Public Analysts established by Decree No. 100 of 1992 now IPAN Act Cap I.16 LFN 2004 to train, examine, register Public Analysts and regulate their practice.

Practice of the Profession

Some of the varieties of products, which are frequently received and analysed in laboratories by Public Analysts in their day-to-day practices, are:

 Food Products (Raw and Processed): 
Packaged food (canned, bottled or bagged) - e.g. biscuits, soft drinks, beer, salt, sugar, oil, spirit and liqueur, breakfast cereals, etc. 
Raw food - meat, milk, cocoa beans, coffee beans, fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, etc.

 Pharmaceutical Products: raw materials, finished products, e.g. tablets, capsules, caplets, solid and liquid injectables, vaccines, disinfectants, syrups, suspensions, medicated soaps, etc.

 Cosmetic Products: raw materials and processed cosmetic products, e.g. soaps, detergents, creams, pomades, relaxers, perfumes, etc.

 Water: bottled and sachet water, borehole and well waters, swimming-pool water, fish ponds, industrial effluents, etc.

 Chemicals: industrial and agricultural chemicals and products e.g. alcohols, acids, water treatment chemicals, dyes, pesticides, preservatives, etc.

 Medical Devices: sanitary pads and other wool products, syringes and implants.

 Agricultural Products: fertilizers, animal feeds, pesticides, etc.

 Extractive Industrial Products: tin, bauxite, feldspar, kaolin, etc.

 Construction Industry: cement, steel, paint, etc.

 Environment

Other Areas of Operation by Public Analysts:

On-line and off-line trouble shooting in manufacturing outfits, Quality assurance auditing, Consultancy services on Good Laboratory Practice(GLP), Development of analytical methods, Training of laboratory personnel, Inter-professional consultancy services, Export and Import inspection services, Petroleum and Petroleum products analysis, Analysis to ascertain faking and adulteration in response to litigations, for registration purposes, for forensic purposes, for environmental impact assessment, Environmental audit report, etc.