Brussels, 27/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The efforts made at international level to develop alternatives to animal testing are starting to pay off. A cooperation agreement between a number of international bodies was signed on Monday 27 April on the validation of alternative testing methods. The agreement was signed by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), which is part of the Joint Research Centre of the Commission, by its United States counterpart (ICCVAM) [Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods], its Japanese counterpart (JACVAM) [Japanese Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods] and by the Canadian Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau.
"I expect that European, American, Japanese and Canadian scientists working together will more rapidly identify scientifically sound alternative testing methods", said Janez Potoènik, the European commissioner with responsibility for science and research. Around 12 million animals are used every year for experimentation in the European Union for safety tests and biomedical research. The EU's aim is to reduce the number of animals used and to refine testing methods to ensure that as little suffering as possible is inflicted on the animals. (L.C./transl.fl)