For National Authorities

With the amendment of the Animal Welfare Act (TierSchG) and the enactment of the new Regulation for the Protection of Animals used for Experimental or other Scientific Purposes (Animal Welfare Regulation for Laboratory Animals, TierSchVersV) in 2013, as well as the amendments to the Animal Welfare Act and the Regulation for the Reporting of Animals used for Experimental or other Purposes (Regulation for the Use of Laboratory Animals -VersTierMeldV) in 2021, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) was entrusted with several tasks relating to the protection of laboratory animals. Within the BfR these legal tasks are fulfilled by the German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals. The tasks include:

1. Advising the competent authorities and animal welfare bodies on matters related to the acquisition, breeding, housing, care and use of animals in scientific procedures (in accordance with Article 15a TierSchG in conjunction with Article 45 TierSchVersV); see National Committee
2. Advising the competent authorities on alternatives to animal testing in accordance with Article 46 TierSchVersV
3. Publication of the non-technical project summaries (in accordance with Article 8 Paragraph 6 TierSchG in conjunction with Article 41 TierSchVersV); see AnimalTestInfo
4. Coordination of the reporting of the use of laboratory animals in procedures, analysis and transmission of the data to the EU (in accordance with Article 16c TierSchG in conjunction with Article 2 VersTierMeldV), see statistical data on laboratory animals
5. Cooperation with the competent authorities of other member states and the European Commission on issues of the regulatory relevance and suitability of the alternative methods proposed for validation according to Article 16g Paragraph 2 TierSchG. See PARERE Network