madam president i would also like to thank mrs jeggle for her hard work on this report
there are significant improvements in the compromise text particularly on inspections on the new authorisation process for experiments and on a proper classification system which we welcome
however we have been waiting several years for the update of this law and my group still has three major areas of concern which is why we submitted the amendments
we believe member states should keep the right to introduce stricter rules on animal protection as they have at the moment and as we agreed at first reading
we believe that alternatives to animals must be used wherever that is possible
the current wording limits the mandatory alternative requirement to a minority of tests carried out which weakens existing laws and again is not what we voted for in the first reading
on non-human primates we believe that without the word substantial to define it a debilitating condition could be interpreted as almost any human ailment rather than as a serious reduction in human health which is what the intention is here
we know from experience with legislation in this field that implementation and enforcement are key to achieving effective legislation and these issues are crucial ones
with the aim of achieving clarity through further discussion my group will be calling for a referral back to committee
