Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with OECD) about updating the OECD counterparts on recognised methods for assessing toxicity in the context of the Government's commitment to phase out the use of the a) LC50 and b) LD50 tests.

The UK has OECD representatives who were involved in developing our strategy to replace animals in science, and will be involved in its delivery. The strategy groups animal tests according to their readiness for replacement, based on maturity of potential alternative methods. These initial baskets will be refined in consultation with stakeholders, noting that two LD/LC50 tests are already in baskets 1 and 2 (botulinum potency and fish acute toxicity tests respectively) so are among the first targeted for phase-out. We will also establish a UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM) to accelerate alternative method uptake.