§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will make a statement on plans to establish a primate breeding facility at the military research centre at Porton Down, indicating(a) what the maximum number of monkeys held will be, (b) from where the original monkeys will be obtained, (c) what species of monkey will be bred there and (d) for what purposes these monkeys will be used; [89080]
(2) if she will make a statement on the compatibility of the Government's policy of the Three Rs with the establishment of a primate breeding centre at Porton Down. [89081]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 8 January 2003]: The monkeys will be used to help scientists continue vital research into serious diseases and conditions including HIV, malaria, stroke, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease. They will not be used for chemical and biological defence testing.
The facility under construction at Porton Down is part of a continuing effort to improve further the care and welfare of laboratory animals across the academic sector. The project, a partnership involving the MRC, The Wellcome Trust, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, has been in the planning for almost three years.
The new facility will replace an existing UK academic breeding facility for Rhesus Macaque monkeys. The colony is being relocated because the new facility at Porton Down will offer state of the art accommodation, care, and welfare in a secure setting. The aims of the facility are broadly two-fold:
(i) to establish a centre of excellence and to provide an example of best contemporary practice for the care and welfare of monkeys; and(ii) to provide a supply of monkeys for justified medical research purposes.The facility is designed to house about 250 macaques. It is expected that this will be sufficient to supply approximately 100 animals for use in academic medical research each year. This does not represent an increase in the use of such monkeys in the UK university sector.
Primates from the new breeding centre will only be used in scientific procedures licensed by the Home Office under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This means that the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) will be fully applied. Under the 1986 437W Act no animals can be used in scientific procedures if alternatives are available, and primates can only be used if no other species are suitable and readily obtainable. The number used and the suffering experienced must be minimised.
The establishment of this new facility further promotes policy on the 3Rs in that:
it will operate to the best contemporary practice for the care and welfare of monkeys and disseminate best practice accordingly. The facility will work closely with the MRC's Centre for Best Practice for Animals in Research to develop, promote and disseminate best practice in all aspects of primate care and welfare;careful planning to predict the numbers of animals required for academic medical research will ensure that potential for "over-breeding" is avoided;co-operative dialogue between the research funders and the facility will ensure that only scientific projects of the highest quality that can fully justify the use of monkeys will be supplied from the facility.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government is taking to encourage the World Trade Organisation to allow countries to impose restrictions on the import of products that compromise animal welfare. [89082]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 8 January 2003]: Because trade is a matter of Community competence, the UK has been working with other EU member states to progress this issue for a number of years. Animal welfare issues have been included in the EU's WTO negotiating priorities for some years. At Doha, the EU successfully negotiated the Doha mandate so that the issue of farm animal welfare would be taken into account as part of the current Agreement on Agriculture negotiations, which are due to be concluded by the end of 2004.
It remains extremely difficult to reach agreement on changes to WTO rules to allow countries explicitly to limit imports of goods based only on the way in which a product was made (under which would fall consideration of whether a production method took account of animal welfare standards). Many WTO member states are highly suspicious of the EU's motives and fear that animal welfare production standards will be used as a disguised form of protectionism. This is a concern for developing country governments in particular. This issue is not on the agenda for the current Doha trade round, but the EU continues to discuss this issue in all relevant WTO fora and is working hard to try to build trust and understanding for the EU's position.
The recent Commission Communication (COM(2002) 626 final) on Animal Welfare Legislation of 18 November offers a useful overview of the Commission's approach to improving animal welfare issues internationally, including through the WTO.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Government has to introduce a clearer labelling system to enable consumers to tell whether products have been tested on animals. [89083]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 8 January 2003]: I have no such plans. The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations already contain provisions 438W allowing manufacturers who wish to label their products "not tested on animals" to do so. The recently agreed 7th Amendment to the Cosmetics Directive requires the European Commission to bring forward new guidelines on animal testing labelling to make it easier for manufacturers to make honest claims about animal testing.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of cosmetics sold in the UK were tested on animals, in the last year for which figures are available. [89085]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 8 January 2003]: This information is not held centrally.