Ethical review of animal testing

Each animal experiment shall be reviewed by a regional ethics committee on animal testing. Animal testing may not begin before the board has approved. The benefit of the experiment must be greater than any suffering the animal(s) may be subjected to. The board’s decision is binding but may be appealed to the Central Ethics Board for Animal Experimentation. The requirement for ethical review applies to experiments with living mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and cyclostomes (round mouths). In many cases, embryos are also covered. An application for an ethical review of animal testing must be sent to the Animal Ethics Board at Linköping University. Changes in operational activities are reported by changing the previously submitted application and resubmitting it.