European Parliament report on animal welfare rights a missed opportunity says Liz Lynne MEP

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 5th May 2009

West Midlands MEP Liz Lynne has today criticised the result of a vote today by the European Parliament on rules regarding the use of animals used in scientific experiment as a missed opportunity.

The European Union is in the process of updating existing legislation on animal testing which dates back to 1986 (Directive 86/609) but does not cater for modern techniques or the latest advancements in the field of animal welfare.

Some Member States, such as the UK, have established far more stringent measures in their national implementation than others where only minimum rules apply. The aim of the European Commission proposal was to raise standards in animal welfare throughout the EU for industry and the research community.

However Conservative MEPs and allies of big pharmaceutical companies tabled a number of amendments to the legislation that prevented the new rules going as far as is needed. Speaking after today's vote Liz Lynne, who has been a strong campaigner for animal rights within the EU, said :

"The original legislation proposed by the European Commission would have meant that all European countries would have been brought into line with the same strong animal rights protection we have in the UK.

"Unfortunately, thanks to the Conservatives the rules dealing with the use of non-human primates have been significantly weakened, meaning that they may be used in all basic research including testing of food products and drugs.

"The Conservatives also argued for delaying the ban on the use of offspring of F1 primates( those caught in the wild) and removes the proposed ban on the use of the most severe and prolonged tests whilst deleting all effective prior authorisation requirements."