In a landmark ruling that has sent ripples through the scientific community in France, the Paris administrative court has suspended ten research project authorizations involving the use of animals, including mice, hamsters, and macaques. This decision comes in the wake of revelations that more than 20,000 animal-based experiments authorized by the French research ministry since 2013 have been conducted outside the established regulatory framework.
The court’s ruling, issued on February 8, declared the authorizations for these projects, granted at the beginning of 2022 for a five-year period, as “deemed inadequate.” The affected research involves a staggering total of 342,780 animals, with a significant portion subjected to procedures classified as “severe” due to their stressful or painful nature, such as tumor grafting. This level of severity underscores the ethical and regulatory concerns at the heart of the court’s decision.
The action against these authorizations was spearheaded by Transcience, an organization dedicated to advancing scientific research without the use of animals. Leveraging the French rural code, which incorporates a European directive from 2013, Transcience argued that each project must receive approval from an “animal experimentation ethics committee” before proceeding. These committees are tasked with assessing the projects’ justification based on a benefit-damage balance and ensuring they adhere to the 3Rs principle: “replace” the use of animals where possible, “reduce” the number of animals used, and “refine” the experiments to minimize or eliminate pain.
The case highlighted a critical oversight in the regulatory process, revealing that all these ethics committees operated without official approval up until 2022. This oversight raises questions about the ethical integrity of past research and the effectiveness of the regulatory framework intended to safeguard animal welfare in scientific studies.
This ruling marks a significant moment for animal welfare advocacy within the scientific research sector in France, emphasizing the need for stringent adherence to ethical guidelines and regulations. It also calls for a reevaluation of current practices and the development of alternative research methodologies that do not rely on animal testing, aligning with the growing global movement towards more humane and innovative scientific inquiry.
