Netherlands plans to phase out regulatory animal testing by 2025
Great news from our Dutch ECEAE coalition partners Een Dier Een Vriend (EDEV). The Dutch government has told its primate testing facility the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) that it has to cut 40% of their experiments as soon as possible. BPRC has also been told to start reducing the breeding colony of its 1,300 monkeys by birth control.
The announcement, which was backed by EDEV, was released last week by agriculture minister Martijn van Dam. It forms part of the government’s proposals to develop a roadmap towards the elimination of animal testing by 2025.
Dr Katy Taylor, Director of Science and Regulatory Affairs at Cruelty Free International and The European Coalition to End Animals Experiments says: “The Netherlands is demonstrating that it wants to be a world leader in innovation without the use of laboratory animals. The ECEAE supports the Dutch government’s plans to design a roadmap to reduce and eliminate animal testing by 2025.”
BPRC is Europe's largest primate animal testing research centre. It is partially funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. EDEV is now preparing recommendations for parliamentarians for a general consultation on animal experiments being set up by the government to take the proposals forward.