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.

On May 5, the Members of European Parliament (MEPs) from 27 member nations voted on proposed tougher
amendments to animal-testing legislation. The majority voted in favour of increasing efforts to develop alternatives to animal-testing, extending the law to also protect a number of invertebrates and foetal animals, sharing of data from previous tests to avoid duplication and regular reviews of primate-testing to ensure it is carried out only when necessary.

The majority also voted against limiting the re-use of animals in repeated testings, restricting the use of monkeys to experiments not medicalrelated and the eventual phase out of offsprings of wild captured monkeys
(F1 primates).

Currently in Malaysia there are no specific laws pertaining to animal-testing, but rather addresses the issue of
cruelty to animals and wildlife in general terms.