§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Mr. Flight) of 15 December 1997,Official Report, columns 11–12, on animal experiments, what actions he has requested regulators of safety testing in the United Kingdom to carry out to attempt to reduce the number of animals used in safety tests. [38524]
§ Mr. George HowarthFollowing a series of meetings at the Home Office, United Kingdom regulators have agreed to a statement of principle that any suffering caused to animals and the number of animals used in a safety evaluation protocol, should be the lowest necessary to achieve its identified objectives.
To this end, they have agreed to:
- 1. encourage the development of alternative methods through co-operation with or participation in national and international initiatives aimed at refining, reducing or replacing the use of animals;
514 - 2. seek to influence international harmonisation initiatives to ensure that policies and practices take full account of the ethical duty to protect the welfare and minimise the numbers of animals used in safety assessments;
- 3. alert applicants/clients to instances where data submitted in support of registration on safety evaluation are considered excessive in terms of animal suffering or numbers, or where internationally accepted alternatives replacing, reducing or refining animal use have not been employed;
- 4. accept for assessment internationally recognised, non-animal alternative tests conducted to appropriate standards; and
- 5. not require repetition of data produced by the applicant for other safety evaluation agencies where such data accord with internationally accepted guidelines and have been generated in compliance with appropriate standards.
A further meeting will take place later this month between Home Office officials and the regulators to discuss the progress made in implementing these principles and in promoting them to overseas regulators.