To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled, Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2018, published in July 2019, what type of tests made up the 24,284 regulatory tests conducted to satisfy the requirements of non-EU legislation; and what steps the Government is taking to (a) reduce and (b) replace the use of animals for those test.
Answered on
23 July 2020
With reference to the report entitled Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2018, published in July 2019, the 24,284 regulatory tests conducted to satisfy the requirements of non-EU legislation were made up of batch safety and pyrogenicity tests, toxicity and other safety tests, and tests undertaken for quality control and efficacy/tolerance.
The Home Office only authorises procedures on animals after a rigorous assessment process, which is undertaken by the Home Office Inspectorate. The Home Office may review project licences, and require them to be amended, if suitable replacement, reduction or refinement alternatives become available during their lifetime.