§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is Her Majesty's Government's policy toward companies offering cell and organ culture tests as an alternative to the use of living animals for assessing the safety of substances.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe Government are advised on the safety of chemical substances by a number of independent expert committees. So that manufacturers and testing laboratories submitting data for assessment may be aware of the most suitable tests, HMSO has published guidelines on testing for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity and toxicity prepared by certain of the committees.
The Government are funding research on safety testing, including the development of cell and organ culture tests as an alternative to animal testing, and welcome the fact that companies are offering such tests if they give useful and reliable information. However, certain animal tests are essential to provide all the data needed if human health and the environment are to be adequately safeguarded.