§ Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the research programme designed to find an acceptable non-animal alternative to the LD 50 and Draize test, and of the fact that certain manufacturers of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products have made significant contributions to the cost of the project, Her Majesty's Government will consider making a contribution; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RaisonThe Government have no plans to contribute towards the cost of such a project. We are advised by the Medical Research Council that alternatives278W to the use of live animals are best developed by scientists in the course of their own work. The Government regularly urge licensees under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 to give thought to the possibilities. The advisory committee which reported on the LD50 test in 1979 concluded that "at the present time for the proper safety evaluation of new substances some acute and chronic toxicity tests must be carried out on whole live animals" and made recommendations for the additional protection of the animals which have been acted upon.