European Parliament resolution calls for more alternatives to animal testing

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European Parliament resolution calls for more alternatives to animal testing

22 July 2020
News
The European Parliament submitted on 6 July 2020 a motion for a resolution regarding the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, calling for the promotion and development of non-animal approaches in science.

The European Parliament, 

  • Reiterates the need to minimise and progressively replace animal testing through an expanded use of new approach methodologies and intelligent testing strategies, including in vitro and in silico methods; calls for increased efforts and funds to this end with the aim of establishing fast, reliable and robust non-animal-based safety assessments in all relevant legislation, in addition to cosmetics; regrets the fact that there are still barriers to the usefulness and acceptance of alternative (non-animal) testing methods for regulatory purposes, owing in part to factors such as gaps in the available testing guidelines and insufficient funding for the research and development of non-animal methods; requests that action be taken to remedy this situation;
  • Considers that the best available science should be used as a benchmark for the validation of new approach methods, rather than outdated animal models;
  • Calls on the Commission to ensure that the validation and introduction of non-animal testing methods is accelerated considerably;
  • Invites the Commission to explore thepotential of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in order to accelerate the development of predictive toxicology tools to support innovation;
  • Underlines the fact that the bans on testing on animals set by the Cosmetics Regulation must not be compromised by testing conducted under other legislation such as REACH.