ALLEGATIONS that Malaysia is in talks with an European company to set up a pre-clinical primate-testing facility in Johor has raised the ire of animal welfare groups.

IN line with increasing public furore over animal experimentation, the European Parliament has recently been
debating revisions to its over 20-year old animal-testing legislation, which - among others - touched on the
possibility of banning or restricting on human primate-testing and the development of alternative means to animal experimentation.

MALAY MAIL has confirmed that a proposal to set up a primate-testing facility, using imported pathogen-free
long-tailed macaques, was sent to the Johor State Investment Centre (JSIC) by a French company.

However, JSIC feels that the controversy over the proposal is premature. JSIC Information and Communications manager Myrna Damayanti Miraj said she cannot understand why international animal welfare groups are raising a fuss over the matter when no decisions have yet been made by JSIC and the authorities.