24 September 2005 - Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has backed more than 200 animal rights campaigners from around the South-East who are calling for the EU to ban animal tests as part of its ongoing review of chemicals legislation.

Dr Lucas, South-East England’s Green Party MEP, has proposed a series of amendments to the so-called REACH Directive on chemical safety to replace all animal-based toxicity tests with humane alternatives.

She said: “Replacing animal experiments with modern non-animal alternatives is not simply an animal welfare issue – it will improve the effectiveness of toxicity testing and benefit the protection of both human health and the environment too.

“Existing animal tests are expensive, unpopular unnecessary, not to mention cruel and even misleading.”

Dr Lucas made her comments ahead of a debate on her amendments at the European Parliament’s influential Environment committee next month, and after more than 200 activists contacted her to appeal for an end to EU-sanctioned animal tests.

The REACH directive seeks to unify existing chemicals legislation to protect human health and the environment from toxic man-made synthetic chemicals – and has received widespread support from environmental and health organisations.

But animal welfare campaigners have warned that the EU must take the opportunity to scrap requirements for chemicals to be tested on animals before commercial use – a report published this week by UK-based ‘Animal Defenders International’ says REACH could create a surge of as many as 4 million extra animal experiments.

ENDS