KTRDC has considerable resources and infrastructure dedicated to analyze tobacco and tobacco products.  Much of this support comes from two Cooperative Agreements between KTRDC and the FDA totaling over $15 million.  These funds have been utilized to establish the Center for Tobacco Reference Products (CTRP) within KTRDC.  The CTRP provides reference tobacco products as standards for tobacco and tobacco product analyses.  CTRP research focuses on constituent measurement and method development.  The reference products are a necessary tool for measuring and reporting constituents as required by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and are sold to the tobacco research community throughout the world.  As part of our research program, the CTRP has initiated a proficiency testing program to validate constituent measurement by laboratories and assist with the establishment of accepted methods for measuring physical and chemical properties of tobacco and tobacco products.