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 quarterly report on Form 10-Q 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

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                     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 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:    May  7,  2004        /s/ Norman Schwartz
           -------------        -------------------------
                                 Norman Schwartz
                                 Chief Executive Officer


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