Good Laboratory Practice is defined by the OECD as a quality system concerned with the organisational process and the conditions under which non-clinical health and environmental safety studies are planned, performed, monitored, recorded, archived and reported.

It is important to note that Good Laboratory Practice does not decide the technical design, methodologies and operations. It simply provides the framework within which testing is carried out. The technical design is often specified in test guidelines developed by regulators such as FDA and OECD.