European Research Area

 

		Background information
Science without guinea pigs Scientific Information Service Institute for Health and Consumer Protection "In vitro versus in vivo" Projects funded under FP5 IVTIP

Research into alternatives to animal experimentation
(reduction, replacement and refinement)

Brussels, 9-10 July 2002

Conference Announcement

The European Commission's Directorates-General for Research and Joint Research Centre are co-organising a conference whose scope is to shed light on the latest scientific and policy developments feeding the debate of the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experimentation.

Simultaneously addressing the increasing ethical considerations and public concern advocating for the limitation of animal experimentation and testing, the conference will review the state-of-the-art of science, legislation, and regulation, assessing the impacts provided by genomics and other areas of fast scientific progress.

Reducing the use of animal experimentation has been an objective of the European Union for the last two decades. The adoption of the Directive on the protection of animals used for experimental and scientific purposes, Directive 86/609/EEC, the funding of research projects on alternative methods by successive Framework Programmes and the establishment of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) in 1991 have contributed towards this objective.

Despite the long process leading from research to implementation and regulatory acceptance, three validated alternative test methods for chemical substances have now been introduced into European legislation (OJ L136 of 08.06.2000).

• Conference Programme

This conference is by invitation only but it will be web-casted.

Contact:
DG Research, Ms. Beatrice LUCARONI,
e-mail: Beatrice.Lucaroni@ec.europa.eu
Telephone: +32-2-29622 29 - Fax: +32-2-299.18.60

Press Contact:
DG Research, Stéphane Hogan,
e-mail: stephane.hogan@ec.europa.eu
Telephone: +32-2-296.2965 - Fax: +32-2-295.82.20