laboratory mice
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UK has proposed the removal of obsolete confidentiality rules that prohibit the dissemination of information on research animals.
under Article 24 of the animals 1986 (Scientific Procedures) Act, the Home Office can not disclose any information about the animal research in the country. This includes, for example, information about people or places that require testing on animals licensing and inspection visit reports. But these rules are now "out of step with the [government] policy on openness and transparency," said Minister Norman Baker Interior in a public consultation launched yesterday.
sharing information more openly "help provide a constructive dissemination of technical knowledge" and reduce the risk of duplication of experiments on animals, the government says.
two rights groups animal and researchers who use animals have praised the proposal as a step in the right direction. "freedom of access to information is ... the only way in which research can be properly examined to ensure the best possible outcome for people and animals, "the organization said animal rights people for the Ethical Treatment of animals in a statement today.
Chris Magee, head of policy at the advocacy group Understanding Animal Research (UAR) in London, tells science Insider that withholding information not allowed scientists and their work, because it leaves a "void that activists can fill misleading information." "Explain what is really going on inside laboratories is the best way to counter the sometimes hysterical claims of so-called activists for animal rights," says Wendy Jarrett, CEO of the organization. The secret is unnecessary because the threat of violent extremists is lower than it was in the 1980s and 190s, Magee said.
this month, RAU and more than 40 scientific organizations publish a joint document, or Concordat on how they intend to be more open and transparent about their research on animals.
private companies have welcomed the government's proposal, but sounded a note caution. Louise Leong, Director R & D policy of the British pharmaceutical industry Association, said in a statement yesterday that drug makers "would be looking for reassurance that amendments to this law does not jeopardize the safety of people who work in animal research ", as well as their intellectual property." commercially sensitive information "
The government's proposal seems to have taken these concerns on board: It suggests scrapping Section 24 while protecting the names of places, people and their intellectual property Under. preferred scenario the government, disclosure of research information on animals "with malicious intent" would also become a criminal offense.
Indeed, when the British government has proposed the repeal of Article 24 there are more than 10 years, then-Science Minister David Sainsbury said the biggest concern was "the question of sanctions for those who have evil that information in the public domain" and to take a firm stand against "animal terrorism."
In 04, the government finally decided to keep unchanged the rules. Now, observers expect Article 24 to the case, but do not know what will replace it. The public consultation ends on June 13; while the government says it will "work fast" to analyze the comments and propose a final option.
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