We have written to Kwasi Kwarteng, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, after the Minister disappointingly failed to rule out duplicate chemicals tests on animals in the UK after Brexit.

Our letter to the Brexit Minister seeks assurance that EU animal tests for chemicals won’t be repeated in the UK when the country leaves the European Union. The MP offered a disappointing response when questioned by Shadow Minister Jenny Chapman in parliamentary questions on EU exit in the House of Commons last week.

With the UK set to leave the EU this month, we want the government to use Brexit as a chance to strengthen policies and make meaningful long-lasting change for the millions of animals used in experiments. We’re calling on the UK to reach an agreement with the EU to share safety data to prevent the suffering of thousands more animals in laboratories.

Kerry Postlewhite, our Director of Public Affairs, says: “We very much hope that in the interest of animals, UK citizens and the UK chemicals industry the government will make very clear that there will be no duplicate animal testing as a result of Brexit. In the face of repeated questioning by industry, politicians and campaigners who all believe there must be no duplicate testing, the government’s response has been deeply disappointing.”

Tragically, the UK remains Europe’s biggest user of animals in research despite growing public demand for more to be done to find alternatives to animal testing. According to a recent poll, 74% of the UK public backs the call for more effort to be channelled into developing alternatives.