Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 18 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 27 October 2004. It was answered by Caroline Flint (Labour) on Wednesday, 27 October 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his policy is in respect of the testing of finished household products on animals.

Answer: Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is in respect of the testing of finished household products on animals. [193085] Caroline Flint: The Government currently have no plans to ban the use of animals in assessing the safety of finished household products or their ingredients. National and international regulatory bodies require that the chemicals used in a range of household products are tested to assess the risk they might pose to man, animals 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 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 are to be generated.

Secondary information