European Parliament Adopts Restrictions On Animal Testing

Europe has banned the use of great apes in animal testing. After two years of debate on how to defend animals without scampering scientific research, the European Parliament has agreed to cut the number of animal tests in Europe and enforce stricter rules for animals used in research.

Under the legislation, experiments on great apes such as chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans are to be banned and strict limits set on the use of primates in general.

Members of the 27-nation bloc, which have two years to conform to the rules, also need ''to ensure that whenever an alternative method is available, this is used instead of animal testing''. But those favoring eradication of animal testing said the rules failed to go far enough.