To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has (a) approved and (b) inspected a breeding centre operated by Vanny Bio-Research at Prek Eng in Cambodia as an overseas primate supply and breeding facility to export primates to the UK for the purposes of scientific research; and what recent representations she has received on breeding of long-tailed macaques for research in Cambodia, with particular reference to the Vanny Bio-Research Centre. (246174)

The Home Office has no remit to approve or accredit overseas primate breeding centres. However, the use of any non-human primate under the authority of project licences issued under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 from an overseas source requires prior approval which is given only if the conditions at the breeding centre are acceptable to the Home Office at that time. The Home Office has not visited any primate supply and breeding facility in Cambodia.

We have received no formal representations on breeding of long-tailed macaques for research in Cambodia, with particular reference to the Vanny Bio-Research Centre. In my reply to your question of 17 December 2008, Official Report, column 857W, I advised you that we had previously considered the suitability of a laboratory primate breeding centre in Cambodia, and are reviewing its potential suitability in the light of additional documentation recently received. No approval for requests for the import of non-human primates will be considered until the centre in Cambodia has been visited by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate.