§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a ban on animal testing in connection with(a) household cleaning products and (b) ingredients used in household cleaning products; and if he will make a statement. [165437]
§ Caroline FlintThe Government currently have no plans to introduce a ban on the use of animals in assessing the safety of household cleaning products and their ingredients.
National and international regularly bodies require that the chemical ingredients used in a range of household products should be tested to assess the risk they might pose to man (both the workforce and consumers) and the environment. Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 such testing using animals can only be licensed when the information to be obtained is considered essential to the required risk 321W assessment, and when it cannot be obtained by non-animal methods. Unfortunately there are in some cases still no reliable alternatives to this kind of animal testing if the necessary safety data is to be generated.