The Commissions considers that the REACH Regulation includes far-reaching provisions to ensure safety of chemicals by means other than animal testing, and that, therefore, it is one of the most innovative legislation in this respect.

The Commission submitted a first reply on 30 May 2018 and a second one on 30 March 2020, after the publication of its first reports on the statistics and implementation of the EU Directive on the protection of animals used in research, testing, and education.

The Commission’s second REACH review highlights the achievements, but also some shortcomings in the practical implementation of the REACH provisions aiming to minimize animal testing. The Commission also considers that the evaluation report forms a good basis to direct the continued efforts by the Commission, together with ECHA, to promote the use of alternative test methods and assessment approaches under REACH wherever the resulting information is adequate for the safety assessment of chemicals, and to drive the development of alternative approaches fit for regulatory applications.

The Commission concludes by announcing a report to be published in the course of 2020 on the review of the testing requirements of Section 8.7 of Annex VIII of REACH regarding the reproductive screening study, as well as the fourth report of the European Chemicals Agency on the use of alternatives to testing on animals for the REACH Regulation.