Animal Quarantine Headquarters and MFDS Publish Revised Standard Operating Guidelines for Animal Testing

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 30th that they have revised and distributed the "Standard Operating Guidelines for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)" related to animal experiments.

IACUC refers to the committee that integrates the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee under the Animal Protection Act and the Experimental Animal Operation Committee under the Act on Laboratory Animals.

IACUC reviews animal experiment plans of institutions conducting animal experiments, evaluates the operation of animal experiment facilities, promotes animal welfare, and plays a role in enhancing the ethics and scientific reliability of animal experiments.

The revised operating guidelines newly include procedures for the adoption of animals that have fully recovered after animal experiments, environmental enrichment for experimental animals (such as providing tunnels or materials for gnawing for small rodents), inspections after approval of animal experiment plans, examples of alternative methods to animal experiments, and reporting methods when using biological hazardous materials.

Officials from the Quarantine Agency and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, "These guidelines will be produced and distributed as booklets to over 450 animal experiment institutions nationwide," and added, "They are expected to provide standards for reviewing animal experiment plans and evaluating facilities, contributing to the enhancement of the ethics and scientific reliability of animal experiments."

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