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EU roadmap for phasing out animal testing in chemical safety assessment

Press release

Roundtable shows ways out of animal testing

With the European Citizens’ Initiative “Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing,” over 1.2 million EU citizens called for an explicit phase-out plan for the animal experiment system (1). In response, the European Commission has committed, among other measures, to developing a roadmap for phasing out animal testing in the safety assessment of chemicals (2). To this end, concrete interim goals and activities are now being developed, ultimately aiming to bring an end to animal testing for chemicals. To support this process, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have organized a roundtable, which has now presented recommendations for the roadmap (3).

With the aim of driving forward the development of the roadmap, a roundtable was organized by five NGOs in June 2024. Among the participating organizations were the umbrella organizations Eurogroup for Animals and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE), both of which Doctors Against Animal Experiments is a member.

The discussion involved 41 representatives from academia, industry, NGOs, and the European Commission. The event focused on identifying key elements of the roadmap as well as the necessary changes to the legal framework (3). “In a remarkably constructive dialogue, participants from the various stakeholder groups collaboratively developed a structure for the roadmap and formulated key recommendations for the European Commission,” reports Dr. Johanna Walter, scientific advisor at Doctors Against Animal Experiments.

“The recommendations range from an increased use of existing non-animal methods, to improved support for the development of new animal-free approaches, and the development of a faster strategy for validating these methods,” Walter summarizes. All stakeholders should be involved in the process to ensure that the solutions developed cover all relevant needs (3).

The main outcomes and recommendations of the roundtable have now been published in a flash report. This report has already been submitted to the European Commission to ensure that the elaborated recommendations can be incorporated into the Commission’s workshop on 25 October 2025. This workshop will address the development, validation, and implementation of non-animal methods, as well as their integration into chemical legislation.

A more detailed report will follow the flash report. The roadmap is expected to be finalized by the end of 2025 or early 2026 (4). “The roadmap is a crucial step—not only to end cruel animal testing in chemical safety assessment. It will also enable faster and more effective testing of chemicals using animal-free, innovative, and biologically relevant methods. This will allow for better protection of human health and the environment without the need for animal suffering,” explains Walter.

References

  1. Mehr als 1,2 Millionen Stimmen für ein Europa ohne Tierversuche, Pressemitteilung von Ärzte gegen Tierversuche, 26.01.2023 >>
  2. European Commission, Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Save cruelty-free cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without animal testing’. 2023 >> 
  3. Recommendations from a multi-stakeholder Roundtable to shape the discussion on the EU Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments, 2024; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1388925
  4. Roundtable makes recommendations on the EU roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessment, Eurogroup for Animals, 11.10.2024 >>