A joint public-private discussion forum to promote animal welfare in chemical testing took place at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The forum was hosted by Reps. Nam In-soon, Han Jeoung-Ae and Jeon Yong-gi, organized by Humane Society International/Korea and Rep. Lee Soo-jin, with public officials and experts from chemical industries in attendance.

At the forum, Nam stressed the need for constant investment in the development of animal replacement testing and the training of such experts.

According to Shin Gun-il, an official from the Ministry of Environment, there currently is no designated government department handling animal replacement testing in Korea, and private institutions remain hesitant to construct the infrastructure.

The attendees agreed on the need for animal replacement testing legislation and highlighted the need for its expansion under government supervision.

Also, points were made that animal replacement testing needs to cost less and take less time in order to encourage private institutions to utilize it.

After the implementation of the Act on the Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemical Substances in 2015 and the Consumer Chemical Products And Biocides Safety Control Act in 2019, the requirements for the submission of animal testing results have increased to register chemical substances. Also, according to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, the number of animals sacrificed in testing increased by 20 percent in 2021, compared to in 2019, in order to meet the stricter requirements.

As of now, a legislative bill covering the establishment of the Korean Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (KoCVAM), to introduce non-animal, alternative methods in the safety assessment of chemicals, was proposed to the National Assembly in December 2020, followed by another proposal in 2022.