23 June 2008
EU pledges more support
EU Environment Commissioner Stravros Dimas has committed to push for an increased development of alternatives to animal testing.
In a speech made in Strasbourg on 16 June, Commissioner Dimas talked about the challenges of revising the current outdated EU animal experimentation Directive 86/609/EEC. Commissioner Dimas has given promising news with his pledge to make animal replacement a clear priority in the new legislation, which he will implement by strengthening the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM).
The revision of the Directive has been underway for some years; the current legislation is outdated and requires a major focus on animal replacement to underpin a strategy for science without animal experiments and to bring the legislation into the 21st century.
On 28 May, in conjunction with the Humane Society International (HSI) and Dr Jane Goodall DBE, the Dr Hadwen Trust held an expert briefing event at the European Parliament, Brussels, where we presented the EU Petitions Committee with a Europe-wide petition signed by over 150,000 citizens and calling for urgent action to advance non-animal replacements through the revised Directive.
Along with the petition we launched our report exploring opportunities for the replacement of animal experiments as part of the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC. Our report sets out the ethical, scientific, human health and economic advantages of pursuing the replacement of animal research in Europe, as well as the key opportunities for doing so. Read the full report here and the event proceedings here.
A key issue raised in our report is the importance of prohibiting the use of non-human primates in research. Encouragingly, Commissioner Dimas has responded by insisting that an exceptionally ambitious proposal will be made with respect to this issue. The revised legislation is due to be published at the end of the summer.