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Industry, NGOs met at Cefic headquarters to discuss animal testing and REACH
On 7 September 2010 Cefic invited representatives of animal rights groups Anti Dierproeven Coalitie and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) to a meeting of its issues team as part of the ongoing cooperation between industry and the animal rights NGOs. Industry representatives took part in the open dialogue on alternatives to animal testing and presented a new position paper on animal alternatives and REACH.
Through its Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) programme, Cefic supports research on the reduction, refinement and replacement of animals and believes that this 3Rs approach will maximize the impact on overall use in the industry – using fewer animals while obtaining more accurate toxicology data. A number of LRI projects past and present were outlined at the meeting, including an extended one-generation study design intended to address the limitations of the standard design, while significantly reducing the number of animals required.
In addition to LRI’s contribution in terms of research, Cefic is a founding member of the European Platform for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EPAA), a joint initiative of seven industry sectors and the European Commission.
Legislation like REACH is highly-dependent on animal testing as part of the process for demonstrating the safety of chemicals to health and the environment. However, strategies to reduce the amount of animal testing are set out in REACH, for example by companies sharing testing information. These approaches are supported by Cefic and the LRI programme takes them one step further, as it has been involved for many years in research into alternatives to animal testing.
Cefic from the beginning of REACH has pushed for 3Rs in animal testing, while at the same time not jeopardising the required safety certainty for workers and consumers.
“I think industry has an obligation to foster a genuine open dialogue on alternatives to animal testing,” Cefic Executive Director for Research & Innovation Gernot Klotz said. “LRI’s commitment goes beyond investing time and resources into alternatives. We also share our findings and work with policymakers including at the OECD to ensure that these techniques are accepted. Only by working with all parties involved can we make a real difference.”
LRI’s contributions include the AMBIT Database 2.0, which reduces animal testing by providing chemoinformatics for first assessment and priority setting which would normally be done in vivo. AMBIT is a relational database with functional modules allowing a variety of evaluations, flexible structure, similarity searching and other queries. This useful tool for both policymakers and industry, particularly in the context of REACH, is available for free.
For more information, download our brochure Cefic engaged in the 3R principle of toxicity testing.