Brussels backs phasing out animal use in experiments
Animal testing
(BRUSSELS) - The EU Commission kick-started a plan Tuesday to phase out animal testing for chemicals across Europe, though campaigners are concerned it will not protect the EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics.
The Commission was responding to a European Citizens' Initiative "Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing" signed by 1.2 million European citizens.
The response provides a comprehensive overview of the EU's legislative and policy framework relevant to the use of animals for testing purposes. It also proposes additional actions to further reduce animal testing.
The Commission welcomed the citizens' initiative, acknowledged that animal welfare remains a strong concern for European citizens, and highlighted the leading role of the EU in phasing out the use of animals in testing and improving animal welfare in general. It said this was reflected in the full ban of animal testing for cosmetics, in place in the EU since 2013.
In addition, the Commission is to launch a new roadmap with a set of legislative and non-legislative actions to further reduce animal testing, with the aim to ultimately move to an animal-free regulatory system under chemicals legislation (e.g. REACH, Biocidal Product Regulation, Plant Protection Products Regulation and human and veterinary medicines) and continue strongly supporting alternatives to animal testing.
Campaigners welcomed the plan to ultimately eliminate animal testing for chemicals and the longer-term proposals to reduce and phase out the use of animals in research and education. However, they added that the Commission has ignored citizens' calls to uphold the ban on animal testing for cosmetics, a ban established by legislators over a decade ago.
The Commission said it will continue its strong support to research for the development of alternatives to animal testing and explore the possibility to coordinate the activities of Member States in this field.
In response to the ECI, the Commission has committed to the following:
- To develop a roadmap to end all mandated tests on animals for industrial chemicals, pesticides, biocides, and human and veterinary medicines
- To explore the creation of an expert scientific committee to provide advice on the development and uptake of non-animal approaches
- To propose an action of the European Research Area to coordinate national policies to replace the use of animals in laboratories and speed up development and implementation of non-animal methods
- To organise one or more workshops with experts to determine future priority areas of research to accelerate the transition to animal-free science
EU Commission response to Citizens' Initiative "Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics - Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing" - guide
European citizens' initiative "'Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without Animal"
EU actions for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes
Source: European Commission