We welcome the European Commission’s much anticipated Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments, and its promise to speed-up progress in the transition to non-animal approaches.

The Roadmap was a commitment made by the Commission in response to our 2021 European Citizens’ Initiative, ‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing’, which was signed by over 1.2 million people. Since then, we have been directly involved in the working groups which drafted the Roadmap.

The Commission say that they are “firmly committed to phasing-out animal testing at the earliest opportunity”. They also acknowledge that, up until now, progress to replace animal testing has been “too slow”.

Importantly, the Roadmap identifies that eliminating redundant tests on animals from legislation (some of which are highlighted by our Replace Animal Tests (RAT) List), as well as introducing more non-animal approaches, must be priorities. These non-animal approaches can be faster, have the potential to be more cost-effective, and can be more relevant to humans or the environment.

The work to phase-out cruel, regulatory testing of chemicals on animals, including ingredients found in the thousands of products we use every day, is as urgently needed as ever. The latest statistics on animal use for the EU and Norway show that over 450,000 animals were used in regulatory tests in European laboratories in 2023 alone. These include the testing of chemicals and medicines – two priority areas that are addressed by the Roadmap.

The Roadmap commits to improving key processes to help change regulations, advance humane science and improve coordination across different sectors, including:

• The development and validation of non-animal approaches

• Working with regulators and stakeholders, including NGOs and the public

• Collaboration with partner countries and international organisations

• Better tracking of animal use for EU-driven regulatory toxicity testing

These commitments mark a serious move towards ending the suffering of animals. In 2023, 9.1 million animals were used in scientific tests and experiments in the EU and Norway. The transformation from the use of animals in regulatory testing could lead the way for much needed change across all areas of animal testing.

There is a clear commitment to introduce new laws governing animal testing by 2029, across 15 areas of EU work – but, the Roadmap does not explain how existing laws will be amended, does not set clear timelines for actions beyond 2029, and does not give targets for ending specific tests on animals. This underscores the need for a solid implementation plan, and regular review of short- and medium-term targets to keep up momentum and to ensure the long-term goals of the roadmap to phase out all tests on animals are ultimately met.

We believe that strong early progress, and immediately laying the foundations for long-term success, will ensure that future EU leaders deliver the longer-term change that is envisioned by this document.

Our Director of Science and Regulatory Affairs, Dr Emma Grange, said: “This Roadmap is a very welcome step in the right direction. We believe it can bring about the transformative change that European citizens want, but only if it is implemented effectively with ambition and strong leadership. Without this, we will face never-ending stagnation and insufficient reductions in the use of animals.

"We’re very pleased to see that the Roadmap identifies that legislative action is required to fully realise change, as well as acknowledging that EU regulations drive animal testing in laboratories located inside and outside of the EU.

"We look forward to working with politicians, legislators, regulators, researchers and industry to ensure this strategy delivers on its promises, and will continue our work to drive progress over the years and political cycles to come.”