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French animal protection legislation and animal research
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| This article has been prepared by the Groupe Interprofessionel de Reflexion et de Communication sur la Recherche (GIRCOR), France |
Animal protection legislation in France can be traced back to the Grammont law of 1850. Yet it was not until 1963 that animal protection legislation was specifically applied to animal experimentation. Later on, a decree dated 9th February 1968 provided that animal experimentation be performed under the direction of a person holding an authorisation from the ministry with administrative responsibility over the experiments. And finally, the law dated 10th July 1976 relating to the protection of nature changed the status of the animals and recognised them as sentient beings.
The present legislation (the decree of 19th October 1987 and the three ministerial orders of 19th April 1988), while maintaining all provisions of the previous national laws, incorporates the European Directive 86/609, itself a result of the 1985 European Convention of the Council of Europe on the protection of vertebrates utilised for experimental and other scientific purposes. The regulations apply only to living vertebrate animals. The experiments can only be performed after written justification, in particular regarding the suffering of animals, which needs to be limited as much as possible.
Animal experimentation can only be performed under the responsibility of an individual holding a personal licence issued by the Ministry of Agriculture. The authorisation specifies the area of activity, the animal species utilised and the experimental protocols. Applicants must have a minimum education in the relevant biology and training in animal experimentation. In addition, specific training is required for any surgical procedures. The training in animal experimentation must be approved by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The facilities where animal experiments take place must be approved jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and the ministry(ies) with administrative responsibility over the institution conducting or funding the experimentation. These facilities must be staffed with an adequate number of qualified personnel with appropriate training in accordance with their responsibilities in category I (persons responsible for the experiment), II (personnel participating in the experiment) or III (personnel in charge of caring for and husbandry of the animals) as defined in the regulations. In addition, the facilities must maintain amongst other items, a register of the animals obtained and sent out, visits to the animal units, animal housing and controlled environments.
The approval of the facilities includes details of the type of experimentation, the animal species to be used, the protocols to be applied and requires statistics on animal numbers to be collected. To maintain wild animals or animals of wild origin, requires a facility certificate of the Ministry of the Environment. The animals must be obtained from identified establishments. Cats, dogs and non-human primates must be individually identified by permanent means; the identification number of cats and dogs is tattooed and registered in a national file. The control of these regulations is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture's Departmental Veterinary Services. Depending on the seriousness of any offences, sanctions can be administrative or through the courts.
The Commission Nationale de l 'Experimentation Animale, presided over by a state counsellor, is an advisory body to the Ministries charged with giving opinions or making proposals on all aspects of the present legislation. This commission is also consulted regarding training and the development of 'alternative' methods.
It has not been deemed appropriate to have specific legislation concerning transgenic animals. Experiments performed on these animals are based on existing legislation and regulations concerning the use of genetically modified organisms.
The vast majority of the public feels that present French legislation concerning animal experimentation gives a good balance between the requirement for animal protection and the necessity of scientific research which is essential for the protection of people and animals.
This article has been prepared by the Groupe Interprofessionel de Reflexion et de Communication sur la Recherche (GIRCOR), France