Protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes

PURPOSE : to amend Council Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for experiments, to bring it into line with the Council of Europe Convention. CONTENT : The Community is a Party to the Council of Europe Convention ETS 123 ("the Convention") for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes. The implementing tool for the Convention is Directive 86/609/EEC. Appendix A of the Convention contains guidelines for the housing and care of laboratory animals. Appendix A of the Convention is equivalent to Annex 2 of the Directive. The appendices to the Convention are of a technical nature, and rely on scientific knowledge. They need periodic adaptation to the latest scientific and technical developments. Therefore, the Annexes to the Directive also require periodic adaptation. To simplify the amendments of the Appendices, the Council of Europe has opened for signature a "Protocol of Amendment" to the Convention. The Directive should also provide for a simplified procedure as regards adaptation of the Appendices to technical progress. This simplified procedure is a Regulatory Committee Procedure, without which the Community's implementing legislation will be out of line with the Convention. The existing Regulatory Committees do not cover the area of the protection of animals used in experiments. Therefore it is necessary to establish a Regulatory Committee that has the appropriate competence.�