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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the types of products which are required to be tested on animals; and what assessment he has made of alternative procedures. [83329] Mr. George Howarth: The Home Office and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 do not require types of product to be tested. The purpose of the 1986 Act is to regulate any experimental or other scientific procedure applied to a protected animal which may cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. The safety of products, and the types of test required to assess safety, are the responsibility of other Government Departments. Section 5(5) of the 1986 Act requires that a project licence shall only be granted if: (a) the purpose of the programme to be specified in the licence cannot be achieved satisfactorily by any other reasonably practicable method not entailing the use of protected animals; and (b) the regulated procedures to be used are those which use the minimum number of animals, involve animals with the lowest degree of neurophysiological sensitivity, cause the least pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm, and are most likely to produce satisfactory results. These embody the principles of the 3Rs--replacing animal use, reducing the number of animals used in a particular procedure and refining procedures to minimise adverse effects. Home Office inspectors (who are all highly qualified and experienced in either medicine or veterinary science) assess licence applications to ensure that such alternatives are used wherever possible.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

83329; 330 c465-6W;330 c459-60W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Animal welfare Animal experiments Licensing Products Testing