Regulations concerning the care and use of animals in laboratory research in Taiwan are becoming stricter as the enforcement of measures establishing institutional animal care and use committees take effect today.
Officials at the National Science Council (NSC) said yesterday that institutions falling under the authority of the Animal Protection Law (
Officials of the National Laboratory Animal Breeding and Research Center under the science council said yesterday that a committee installed at every research institution would supervise animal-research-related affairs.
One of the requirements for establishing a committee includes the hiring of a veterinarian or an equivalent expert with a certificate issued by training centers recognized by the central government.
"Key committee personnel will be in charge of supervising procedures for self monitoring in obtaining, breeding, managing and using animals in laboratory research," said Liang San-chi (
Other important duties of committee members, Liang added, include ensuring appropriate maintenance of facilities where animals are used in laboratory research and adequate veterinary care.
"We believe that proper management of animals in laboratory research will minimize the negative consequences of animal testing," Liang said.
A workshop to train such professionals will be held by the center for the very first time today. Some 150 experts from different research institutions are expectedly to receive the certification. The center will hold another workshop in November this year. Liang said that more than 300 experts will be qualified to serve as committee members within a year.
According to the Council of Agriculture, however, there are more than 500 institutions in need of such experts, such as research centers, hospitals, universities, biotech firms, pharmaceutical companies.
After next July, any institution lacking a committee will be fined between NT$20,000 and NT$100,000.
Animal welfare activists told the Taipei Times yesterday that they welcomed new measures which ensure the rights of animals.
"But we have reservations about the integrity of appointed committee members because they will be on the payroll of the institutions they supervise," said Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏) of the Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan.
"Waiving unnecessary animal experiments should have become the researchers' main concern," Chen said. She added that animal welfare activists can look forward to seeing committee members with diverse backgrounds, such as animal behavior, animal protection and psychology.
The budget for biotech research in Taiwan next fiscal year has been increased to NT$17 billion from NT$11.7 billion. Biotech is a priority of the government's business promotion activities.
"It [the increased budget] doesn't necessarily mean that Taiwan will need more animals for scientific research," NSC Chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和) said yesterday.
Wei said that the measures taking effect today would improve the image of Taiwan in the international community.
According to the NSC, Taiwan will do its best to become a leader in biotech research next year by spending NT$4 billion on planned national projects.
Science council chairman Wei and Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) will head for Japan today to visit several biotech research centers including Tokyo University and the Tsukuba Science Park.
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