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Item 4. Controls and Procedures

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Item 4. Controls and Procedures

(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Based on their evaluation, required by paragraph (b) of Rules 13a-15 or 15d-15, promulgated by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act, are effective, at a reasonable assurance level, as of June 27, 2026, to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply judgment in evaluating the benefits of our controls and procedures relative to their costs.

(b) Changes in Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting

There were no material changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required by paragraph (d) of the Exchange Act Rules 13a-15 or 15d-15 that occurred during the quarter ended June 27, 2026 that materially affected, or were reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES INTERNATIONAL, INC.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

A putative securities class action (Securities Class Action) was filed on May 19, 2023 against the Company and a number of its current/former officers in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. On August 31, 2023, the court appointed the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio as lead plaintiff. An amended complaint was filed on November 14, 2023 that, among other things, included only James Foster, the then current Chief Executive Officer and David R. Smith, the former Chief Financial Officer as defendants along with the Company. The amended complaint asserts claims under §§ 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of Company securities from May 5, 2020 through February 21, 2023, alleging that certain of the Company’s disclosures about its practices with respect to the importation of non-human primates made during the putative class period were materially false or misleading. On July 1, 2024, the court dismissed the complaint, denied the plaintiff’s informal request for leave to amend, and entered judgment for defendants. On July 30, 2024, the plaintiff filed a notice of appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Oral arguments took place on May 5, 2025. On August 15, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed in part the district court’s dismissal on the pleadings of the securities fraud claims. The case returned to U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. On October 16, 2025, the plaintiff filed a motion to withdraw the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio as lead plaintiff, due to lack of statutory standing, and substitute Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System. While the Company cannot predict the final outcome of this matter, it believes the class action to be without merit and plans to vigorously defend against it. The Company cannot reasonably estimate the maximum potential exposure or the range of possible loss in association with this matter.

On November 8, 2023, a stockholder filed a derivative lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the District of Delaware asserting claims on the Company’s behalf against the members of the Company’s Board of Directors and certain of the Company’s current/former officers (James Foster, the then current Chief Executive Officer; David R. Smith, a former Chief Financial Officer; and Flavia Pease, the then current Chief Financial Officer). The complaint alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties to the Company and its stockholders because certain of the Company’s disclosures about its practices with respect to the importation of non-human primates were materially false or misleading. The complaint also alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by causing the Company to fail to maintain adequate internal controls over securities disclosure and compliance with applicable law and by failing to comply with the Company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. On August 2, 2024, a different stockholder filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Delaware asserting similar derivative claims on the Company’s behalf against members of the Company’s current and former Board of Directors and the same current/former officers based on similar allegations of purportedly misleading disclosures and non-compliance with legal rules and ethics standards in respect of the importation of non-human primates, as well as insider-trading claims against certain of the defendants. Both of these lawsuits are currently stayed by agreement of the parties pending further developments in the Securities Class Action pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. While the Company cannot predict the outcome of these matters, it believes the derivative lawsuits to be without merit and plans to vigorously defend against them. The Company cannot reasonably estimate the maximum potential exposure or the range of possible loss in association with these matters.

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