Update: European Parliament Takes Further Action on PETA Petition
Thanks to PETA supporters, the political will to promote non-animal testing techniques is growing.
As the European Commission formally evaluated the REACH chemicals regulation, over 100,000 compassionate citizens sprang into action by signing an open letter to the European Commission and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) demanding that Europe become a world leader in progressive and innovative science by ending cruel experiments on animals and accepting cutting-edge, non-animal research methods.
We wanted to be sure that your voices were heard in all the right corners, so PETA and its European affiliates submitted the letter to the European Parliament Committee on Petitions. Consequently, PETA Science Policy Adviser Dr Julia Baines was invited to address the committee.
Dr Baines explained to MEPs that by 2016, approximately 1 million animals had already been used in painful and lethal tests under REACH and that many more will have been used since then. Yet scientists and regulators around the world recognise that non-animal testing strategies for predicting human health effects can provide more reliable and superior data in comparison to tests on animals.
She also pointed out that the European Commission and ECHA continue to allow cosmetics ingredients to be tested on animals under REACH and urged MEPs to end this shameful practice.
As Dr Baines explained, “The blueprint is there to boost scientific innovation, enhance human health, and improve animal welfare. It just needs forward-thinking people such as yourselves to take these opportunities.”
We’re delighted to report that the committee unanimously agreed to take action by forwarding the petition to ECHA and the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety for official opinions and to the European Parliament’s Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals for its consideration.
This is great progress in initiating the political will to promote humane testing techniques, and we couldn’t have done it without your support.
What You Can Do
You can take further action to help animals in laboratories by urging the European Commission and the European Parliament to observe a moratorium on all animal experiments:
