MEPs raise animal testing standards

Chris Davies MEP

New controls on the use of animals in laboratory testing across Europe were agreed today by the European Parliament.

The new law is intended to balance concerns about animal welfare with the need to ensure that medical research can continue.

Rochdale Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies said the outcome was a compromise that would raise standards across the continent.

"No country has to relax controls already in place, but every country will now have to meet minimum criteria for animal welfare," he said.