Exhibit 31.1


          Certification of Chief Executive Officer Required By
               Exchange Act Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a)


    I, Norman Schwartz, certify that:

    1.   I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Bio-Rad
         Laboratories, Inc.

    2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any
         untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
         material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
         light of the circumstances under which such statements were
         made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
         this report;

    3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
         financial information included in this report fairly
         present, in all material respects the financial condition,
         results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
         of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

    4.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I are
         responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
         controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
         13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

             (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,
                  or caused such disclosure controls and procedures
                  to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that
                  material information relating to the registrant,
                  including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
                  known to us by others within those entities,
                  particularly during the period in which this report
                  is being prepared;

             (b)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                  controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
                  controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
                  covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

             (c)  Disclosed in this report any change in
                  the registrant's internal control over financial
                  reporting that occurred during the registrant's
                  most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
                  fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
                  report) that has materially affected, or is
                  reasonably likely to materially affect, the
                  registrant's internal control over financial
                  reporting; and

    5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have
         disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
         control over financial reporting, to the registrant's
         auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board
         of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

             (a)  All significant deficiencies and
                  material weaknesses in the design or operation of
                  internal control over financial reporting which
                  are reasonable likely to adversely affect the
                  registrant's ability to record, process, summarize
                  and report financial information; and

             (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that
                  involves management or other employees who have a
                  significant role in the registrant's internal
                  control over financial reporting.



             Date:       March 12, 2004             /s/ Norman Schwartz
                                                    (Norman Schwartz)
                                                    Chief Executive Officer

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