Laboratory Animals

Revision of Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of Animals used for Experimental and other scientific purposes

Response to petitions on the protection of experimental animals and banning experiments on non-human primates (pdf ~150 KB)

In 1986 the Council adopted Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes. The Directive seeks to improve the controls on the use of laboratory animals, sets minimum standards for housing and care as well as for the training of personnel handling animals and supervising the experiments. It also aims at reducing the numbers of animals used for experiments by requiring that an animal experiment should not be performed when an alternative method exists, and by encouraging the development and validation of alternative methods to replace animal methods. The latter served as the basis for the Commission to set up ECVAM, the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, in 1991.

The wording of the Directive follows international Conventions. Therefore, a significant number of its provisions are open to interpretation, and the style of some provisions is more political rather than regulatory in nature. The Directive does also not include ethical review processes or compulsory authorisation of experiments. Furthermore, the Directive does not explicitly mention the concept of the 3Rs - Reduction, Refinement and Replacement (Russel and Burch 1959), which is a generally recognised approach to minimise the use of laboratory animals.

In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that the Directive needs to be revised in order to promote improvements in the welfare of laboratory animals and to further foster the development of alternative methods. Since 1986 important progress has been made in science and new techniques have become available, such as use of transgenic animals, xenotransplantation and cloning. These require specific attention, which the current Directive does not provide for. Nor is the use of animals with a higher degree of neurophysiological sensitivity specifically regulated, such as in the case of non-human primates.

Finally, the EU Treaty now formally recognises the welfare requirements of animals. The protocol on protection and welfare of animals, annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam, provides that "In formulating and implementing the Community's agriculture, transport, internal market and research policies, the Community and the Member States shall pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals, while respecting the legislative or administrative provisions and customs of the Member States relating in particular to religious rites, cultural traditions and regional heritage."