Animal Testing Regulations - New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act 1999 requires owners and people in charge of animals to ensure the physical, health and behavioural needs of animals are met, and that pain and distress are alleviated. In New Zealand, as in many countries, laboratory animals (mainly rodents) and farm animals (mainly cattle and sheep) are used in research, testing and teaching – commonly referred to as RTT. Animal use in RTT is strictly controlled under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and organisations using animals must follow an approved code of ethical conduct. This sets out the policies and procedures that need to be adopted and followed by the organisation and its animal ethics committee.

Every project must be approved and monitored by an animal ethics committee. These committees must have three external members:

• a nominee of an approved animal welfare organisation (such as the SPCA),
• a nominee of the New Zealand Veterinary Association and,
• a lay person to represent the public interest (and nominated by a local government body).

Code holders and their animal ethics committees are independently reviewed (by MPI accredited reviewers) at least once every five years. All code holders have to submit annual animal use statistics on the number of animals used in research, testing or teaching, and its impact on them, from little or none to severe.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) administers the Act and leads animal welfare policy and practice in New Zealand. The National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee (NAEAC) was established under the Animal Welfare Act to provide independent advice to the Minister for Primary Industries about:

• ethical and animal welfare issues relating to the use of animals in research, testing and teaching
• recommendations on the restrictions of use of non-human hominids
• advice to Animal Ethics Committees
• the development and review of codes of ethical conduct