Legislation

In the UK, animal testing is overseen by the Animals in Scientific Procedures Inspectorate (ASPI). As part of the Home Office, the Inspectorate implement the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which regulates animal testing. The work of the Inspectorate includes issuing licenses and inspecting research facilities.

As a member of the European Union, the UK also complies with the following EU laws:

EU Directive 2010/63/EU protecting animals in scientific procedures

In Europe, 12 million animals are used each year in experiments¹ . In 2008, the EU began the process of revising legislation² regulating scientific procedures on animals. Hailed as an opportunity to overhaul animal experiments in Europe, the revised EU Directive 2010/63/EU applies across the 27 member bloc, harmonising regulations throughout the European Union.

So, does the new legislation adopted in September 2010, really provide better protection to animals used in research?

Non Human Primates – Disappointingly fundamental research using non-human primates is still permitted under the new Directive. Early drafts of the Directive sought to limit research to only that which aids “life-threatening or debilitating” conditions. This restriction was removed from the final Directive adopted in September 2010.
The practice of taking non-human primates from the wild for EU research purposes will also continue, the timetable for phasing this out has now been postponed from the seven years put forward in the draft Directive (Nov 08) to 10 years. The vote follows fierce lobbying by bio-industry organisations and research bodies. Click here to read Reuters Report (5th May 2009) [pdf]
Re-use of animals in experiments - Again disappointing! While the draft Directive issued in November 2008 sought to introduce measures to protect animals from being subject repeatedly to painful procedures, MEP’s voted to accept that animals used more than once in testing could be subject to 'moderate' pain as opposed to 'mild' pain. This means an animal could repeatedly be subject to acute dose-range finding studies or chronic toxicity/carcinogenicity tests, with non-lethal end-points.
Has the new Directive achieved anything? - Directive 2010/63/EU sets down requirements for the housing and breeding of animals; it requires researchers to implement the 3Rs – replacement, reduction and refinement as good practice; and defines levels of severity, providing solid examples. The Directive should harmonise standards throughout the EU. But in its diluted form it achieves much less than had been hoped for.
Home Office consultation on options for transposing EU Directive 2010/63/EU is now closed. More

¹Sixth Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the Statistics on the number of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes in the member states of the European Union COM(2010) 511/final 2
²Directive 86/609/EEC	References: Directive 2010/63/EU

EU Cosmetics Directive

In March 2009, a Europe-wide ban on animal testing of cosmetic ingredients passed into effect. This follows on from the ban on animal testing of finished cosmetics in 2004. Yet testing continues elsewhere in the world for products made and sold in Europe, and not until March 2013 is a total ban expected to come into effect preventing the import into the EU of personal care products containing animal tested ingredients.

Undoubtedly the 2013 deadline set out in the Seventh Amendment to the Cosmetics Directive has provided added impetus to find non-animal alternatives. The following tests no longer use animals: Skin Corrosion and Phototoxicity tests replaced in 2000; Skin Absorption test replaced in 2008; Eye Sensitivity test replaced in 2009. However, some doubt remains as to whether alternatives for the three remaining toxicity tests will be available in time for the 2013 ban. More… [pdf]

Present trends in skincare and personal care products mean the boundaries separating cosmetic and pharmaceutical are blurring. In years to come, cosmetics could still contain animal tested ingredients, albeit tested for pharmaceutical purposes, in much the same way Botox now slips through a regulatory loophole.

References: EU Cosmetics Directive 76/768/eec

EU REACH program

The REACH program (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals) passed into force in April 2007 and will be phased in over the next 10 years.
Effective throughout the European Union it involves the testing of thousands of substances to evaluate risk to health and the environment - and these tests involve animals. Estimates of the numbers of animals involved range from 9 million to 54 million vertebrate animals. If you would like more information about the REACH program, please send an email to Dawn.