HC Deb 10 November 1998 vol 319 cc118-9W
Mr. Gordon Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy on the future licensing of the use of animals in skin corrosivity and phototoxicity tests, under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. [58667]

Mr. George Howarth

On receipt of the statement on the scientific validation of the 3T3 NRU PT test from the European Commission in November 1997, the Chief Inspector advised that in vivo tests of phototoxicity will no longer be authorised in research applications in the United Kingdom and will not be permissible in safety testing unless the regulatory requirement can be demonstrated. This advice was updated when validation of the alternative test was extended to UV filter chemicals in May 1998.

Similarly, the TER and EPISKIN in vitro skin corrosivity tests were substituted as soon as the statement of scientific validation was received in April 1998. In vivo skin corrosivity tests are now not authorised in relevant research work and will be permitted in regulatory safety testing only while regulators demand in vivo data. This advice was conveyed to Certificate holders in a newsletter on 29 June 1998.

The Home Office policy in actively taking up validated alternative tests was discussed when my noble Friend the Minister of State visited the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods in May 1998.

Mr. Gordon Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the figures in Home Office Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain, Table 2, column 2, include animals imported from sources outside the EU to United Kingdom suppliers and then sold to designated establishments. [58668]

Mr. George Howarth

Animals used in scientific procedures which are listed in Schedule 2 to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and must therefore be obtained from designated supplying establishments in the UK, are accounted for in column 2 of table 2. This is the case, even if the animals were obtained by those supplying establishments from other countries, either inside or outside the European Union.