REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) aims to minimise animal testing, and actively promotes the development and use of non-animal alternative test methods. However, it is inevitable that some further animal testing will be necessary in order to fill the many gaps which currently exist in our knowledge of the way chemicals impact on human health and the environment. Animal testing is only allowed as a last resort where no suitable non-animal alternatives exist. REACH prohibits repetition of animal tests once they are completed, and requires the data from them to be shared between everyone wanting to register the same substance.
In October 2006, the European Commission estimated that in the region of between 8 and 13 million additional animals might be used across Europe over the entire REACH registration period. However, we expect that number to be significantly reduced as a result of the additional drivers to reduce the amount of animal testing that were incorporated into the final agreed REACH text in December 2006.
These figures should also be read with caution because of the uncertainty about how many registrations will be made over the next nine years. It is not possible to estimate how many tests might take place in the United Kingdom as there are no restrictions on where any individual company may choose to commission any procedures it needs.