The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks issues opinions, at the request of Commission departments, on questions concerning emerging or newly-identified health and environmental risks. To find out more : click here.

For example, on January 13, 2009, this Committee issued an opinion on the need to use non-human primates in research and regulatory testing (“The need for non-human primates in biomedical research, production and testing of products and devices”).

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Following a request from the European Commission, this Scientific Committee updated its 2009 opinion in a new 2017 opinion on the use of primates in research.

In particular, the 2017 opinion addresses the potential implications of a ban on the use of non-human primates in the European Union on biomedical research, and highlights the many scientific approaches that could make a significant contribution to the replacement, reduction and refinement (3Rs) of the use of non-human primates, through the use of alternative methods, the development of training, the improvement of techniques and protocols, the sharing of knowledge, the removal of barriers, taking into account research needs.

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