Specific concerns about the revised Directive

Here we outline just a few of the specific concerns about revision of European Directive 86/609 on animal experimentation. They threaten European bioscience and medicine without providing any animal welfare or three Rs benefits. Further information is available as series of briefings in pdf format. 

 

 

Article 2: Scopehens eggs for vaccines

The revised Directive should aim to improve animal welfare and its scope should be evidence-based: it should focus on those animals that can experience pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. Extending the scope of the Directive to life forms that cannot feel pain - such as hens eggs used to grow flu vaccines, or microscopic sea life - will increase bureaucracy without improving animal welfare.

 

Article 8: Non-human primatesmacaques

There are currently no alternatives to some types of research using non-human primates (NHPs, often just called monkeys). Arbitrary restrictions on their use would seriously jeopardise fundamental and applied science in Europe. This could prevent many important future areas of study, in effect hindering medical advances for European citizens and patients around the world.

Related page: Research using monkeys

 

Article 15: Classifications

The Directive must establish from the outset how the severity of procedures using animals is to be classified. Without the suggested definitions, which are already well established in some Member States, other important areas of the Directive remain undefined and unclear.

 

Article 16: Re-use

The ability to ‘re-use’ animals is critical to implementation of ‘reduction’ and ‘refinement’ of procedures on animals, two of the ‘3Rs’ that are called for under the draft Directive. The principal issue is to ensure that pre-prepared animals can be used several times in protocols considered as up to ‘moderate’ severity. Any restriction on such re-use would have serious adverse welfare consequences by requiring far more animals to undergo preparatory surgery/training, including non-human primates.

 

Article 32 and annex IV: Care and accommodation

Although there is an exemption from some of the requirements for animal welfare reasons, there should also be exemptions for scientific reasons. As drafted, the Directive would make it impossible to undertake certain veterinary or welfare research on farm or zoo animals if they had to be accommodated in facilities that were different from those used in current farm/zoo practice.

 

Article 44: Data-sharing to minimise animal experiments

The overall concept of data-sharing to avoid duplication of procedures is strongly supported. Ideally, all data should be shared and new studies planned on the basis of what is already known. But there are many different types of animal research undertaken across Europe (and the rest of the world). A legal requirement for data-sharing in all areas of research would cause immense difficulties.

 

VACCINE PRODUCTION IMAGE©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DRA_SCHWARTZ

 

 

Download pdf briefings

Briefings x4

 

Print this page