Legal regulations for the testing of animal experiments

: In 1987, the Dutch Secretary of State for Public Health stated before Parliament that in the near future a legal basis will be given to the review-organisation of (intended) experimental studies on animals. The Department of Health Law of the State University of the province of Limburg recently carried out investigations to test the desirability and framework of such a review-organisation. Standards and criteria are laid down in Dutch as well as in international laws, regulations and codes of conduct. In the United States, Canada and several European countries, systems of regulation and review are operative. In the Netherlands, governmental and private initiatives have led to the establishment of experimental-study review committees. However, the functioning and effectiveness of these committees varies markedly. On the basis of the literature and opinions of experts, a concept of a modification of the existing Experimental Studies in Animals Act was formulated, in which experimental study review committees can find a legal basis.