ALTEX :: Alternatives to Animal Experiments

1999, VOLUME 1

Symposium -- Implementation of the 3R Targets in the European Union, in Science and Industry

EU-Symposium At Vienna, Austria, November 16-17, 1998

Resumé

All EU Member States and the European Commission are fully aware of the important issues related to the use of laboratory animals in research and testing and of the need to develop nonanimal tests as alternatives, to reduce the number of animals used and to refine the procedures applied to any animals used in essential studies.

Thus, in all EU Member States, as well as in most other European countries, the 3R-principles are widely accepted by governmental authorities, academia and by industry, but need to be implemented.

EU

To harmonize the regulation of animal experiments in science and industry, in 1986 the EU Member States adopted Council Directive 86/609/EEC concerning the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.

The European Commission has implemented the objectives and obligations of the Directive in their Framework Programmes for research and technical development. in the immediate future, the 5th Framework Programme will explicitly support research in the field of alternatives to animal testing, in line with the 3R principles.

The issue of animal testing in the cosmetic industry is a topic of great public and political concern. On the advice of the Scientific Committee on Cosmetology and Non-Food Products, the EU postponed in 1997 the date of the proposed ban on the marketing of cosmetics tested on animals to 30 June 2000. World Trade Agreements (WTO), however, will not allow this ban, and the Commission are therefore proposing a 7th amendment to the Cosmetics Directive to ban certain tests. On the basis of the currently ongoing scientific studies, many of the tests are now no longer used by the cosmetic industry.

Science and Academia

In general, the European scientific community is aware of the ethical considerations concerning animal experiments, but this awareness is not universal and further education is necessary. In most countries and disciplines, the 3R principles are accepted and work is being carried out in the field of alternatives. Unfortunately, not all research funding procedures currently apply the 3R principles as one of the evaluation criteria.

Industry

European industries have a great interest in the 3R concept, not only because of ethical reasons, but also due to scientific and economic considerations. Encouraging greater use of alternatives and the application of the 3R is less an issue of lack of information, than of worldwide regulatory acceptance. Nevertheless, the availability of relevant and up-to-date information needs to be improved. The European industries therefore have organized by themselves several platforms.

Conclusions

The European Commission should encourage the international acceptance of alternative methods validated and used within the EU, and should catalyse European industrial and academic activity by developing collaborative programmes on alternatives research.

The Commission's Joint Research Centre should play a pivotal role in coordinating these 3R-related activities in the Member States, and in particular tlirough ECVAM, which was established for this purpose.

The role of ECVAM in developing and validating replacement alternatives should be improved and encouraged. In particular, ECVAM should be given sufficient resources and a widened responsibility for coordinating and financing research and the development and validation of scientifically advanced methods in the field of alternatives in the EU.

The present information services from ECVAM should be further developed and improved, to become a Europe-wide database for scientific information concerning alternatives to laboratory animal procedures. Making the information available would be best achieved via the Internet. The databases of different countries should be better linked to each other via ECVAM. A world-wide information network should be established.

All governmental funding agencies in the area of Life Sciences, both of the European Commission and of the Member States, should apply the 3R principles as an essential criterion in evaluating grant applications.

Academic researchers should be made more aware of the 3R principles and should be encouraged to focus more on replacement alternative methods and their validation, as well as on reduction and refinement. They also should be encouraged to access and use the established databases.

The European Commission should implement a pan-European, multinational discussion forum to foster debate on real and potential opportunities for the 3Rs, and should strive to exert greater impact in global debates, especially involving the OECD and the USA.

All concerned DGs of the European Commission and ECVAM should set up a joint advertisement and information on the internet on all funding that is available for the development and funding of alternatives to animal experiments. (Currently, that information is provided through the CORDIS and RAPIDUS information services from DG XII, where you can leave your email address to automatically get information free of charge.) This information service should be better advertised by the European Commission and the Member States to improve the implementation of the 3Rs.