The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is all set to assign more powers to the Institutional Animal Ethics Committees (IAEC) attached to the institutions across the country. The IAECs will be given the decision-making powers for import of animals for experimentation.

The necessity of the import and the significance of the experiment would be evaluated at the IAEC level, and CPCSEA would not interfere in the grant of final approvals. The decision is to help Indian drug companies and research institutions in a big way.

Another major decision, as far as Indian animal experimentation sector is concerned, to be taken by CPCSEA in the coming days, would be to route the files for import of large animals directly to its advisory committee. The advisory committee, which consists of senior scientists and animal experimentation experts can scrutinize the files and give speedy sanctions for important projects. As per the current practice, the files reach the advisory committee only after an initial screening by CPCSEA, which doesn't have sufficient expertise to gauge the importance of a particular import application. It is known that there are about 100 applications for import of experimental animals that are yet to reach the advisory committee. While the advisory committee on large animal experimentation cleared about 80 proposals in its recent sitting, there are an equal number of applications that are held up with CPCSEA for reasons best known to them, it is learnt. The new decision would put an end to this issue and ensure timely, merit based, clearances of animal import applications.

The third major issue being faced by the scientists involved in animal experimentation was the presence of over zealous CPCSEA nominiees in the IAEC, who made it to the post by the sole virtue of their love for animals. The overplay of emotions of several of such nominees when it comes to use of animals for experimentation had been causing delays in IAEC clearances. The CPCSEA is known to have decided to take a realistic approach in this issue also and henceforth; animal activism will not be the sole criterion for selection of nominees to CPCSEA. The biodata of the nominees will have to be approved by the scientific committees. A general understanding of animal experimentation and basic scientific knowledge will turn essential for being appointed as CPCSEA to the IAECs in future.

The CPCSEA is to meet within a few days to finalise the changes and a notification to this effect will be issued after the crucial meeting scheduled this week.

It may be recalled that by a February 15 2001 notification, the government had lifted the ban on contract research companies using animals in the private sector and relaxed the procedure for import of experimental rats and mice by registered breeders and establishments. But, for large animals like monkeys, dogs, cattle, buffalo, goat and sheep, the regulations continue to be prohibitively stringent.