The European Commission’s five year review of the regulation of the use of animals in scientific procedures (Directive 2010/63) was published on 10 November.
The review concludes that the Directive continues to “provide a sound basis” for regulation of these procedures and that, whilst it remains too early to fully assess the impact of the regulation, some progress had been made towards improving transparency. The review made no recommendations for amendments to the Directive and noted that a further full evaluation will take place after 2019 when more information on the implementation of the Directive is available.
In response to the review Professor Sir Robert Lechler said:
“It is right that we continue to review how research involving the use of animals is regulated to ensure that we achieve the highest welfare standards for the animals used in these procedures, afterall good science and good welfare go hand-in-hand.
“The review makes no recommendations for amendments to the EU’s regulations, showing that we have one of the most robust regulatory frameworks in the world for research using animals. This should provide us with further confidence that researchers only use animals when scientifically justified, where the benefits to people and animal health outweigh any harms to animals, and where there are no other alternatives.
“I am pleased to see the recognition of the great progress that has been made in the UK around the transparency of the use of animals in research. The Academy is a signatory of the Concordat on Openness and continues to support public dialogue about the use of animals in medical research.”
For more on the Academy’s policies on the use of animals in research, please see a page devoted to this topic on our website.