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UK licence details to be published
The details of all licences for animal experimentation in the UK will be published in the form of abstracts.
The UK government has announced that, from now onwards, it will routinely publish details of licences granted for animal experimentation. Home Office minister Caroline Flint hailed the move as "ground breaking" and "a major step towards greater openness and more informed public debate about animal experimentation." However, she promised that this would be done in a manner that protected the safety of the scientists involved.
"We expect that a licence abstract in each case will cover points of general interest to the lay reader." she explained, "These might include the expected benefits of the project, the reason for using animals and the choice of species, the procedures and their likely effects on the animals, and the steps taken to minimise the number of animals used and their suffering."
The minister, who is responsible for the licensing of animal procedures, continued: "I wish to record the Government's appreciation of the willingness of many of the scientists concerned to co-operate in such a ground-breaking development. I also wish to make clear that we will continue to take the greatest care, in collaboration with the scientists, to ensure that no details are published which could jeopardise their safety or their work."