Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986

10 Conditions. U.K.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a licence or certificate under this Act may contain such conditions as the Secretary of State thinks fit.

(2) The conditions of a personal licence shall include—

(a) a condition to the effect that the holder shall take precautions to prevent or reduce to the minimum consistent with the purposes of the authorised procedures any pain, distress or discomfort to the animals to which those procedures may be applied; and

(b) an inviolable termination condition, that is to say, a condition specifying circumstances in which a protected animal which is being or has been subjected to a regulated procedure must in every case be immediately killed by a method appropriate to the animal under Schedule 1 to this Act or by such other method as may be authorised by the licence.

[F1 (2A) Without prejudice to subsection (2)(a) above, the conditions of a personal licence shall include such conditions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate to ensure that the authorised procedures are carried out in accordance with Article 8 of Council Directive No. 86/609/EEC F2 , the text of which is set out in Schedule 2A to this Act.]

(3) The conditions of a project licence shall, unless the Secretary of State considers that an exception is justified, include a condition to the effect—

(a) that no cat or dog shall be used under the licence unless it has been bred and obtained from a designated breeding establishment; and

(b) that no other protected animal of a description specified in Schedule 2 to this Act shall be used under the licence unless it has been bred at a designated breeding establishment or obtained from a designated supplying establishment; [F3 ; and

(c) that no vertebrate of an endangered species shall be used under the licence;]

[F4 and

(d) that no protected animal taken from the wild shall be used under the licence;]

but no exception shall be made from the condition required by paragraph (a) [F5 or (d)] above unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that no animal suitable for the purpose of the programme specified in the licence can be obtained in accordance with that condition [F6 and no exception shall be made from the condition required by paragraph (c) above unless the Secreatary of State is satisfied that the use of animals of the species in question will be in conformity with the Councill Regulation and that the purposes of the programme of work specified in the licence are either research aimed at the preservation of the species in question or essential bio-medical purposes where the species in question exceptionally proves to be the only one suitable for those purposes]

[F7 (3A) In subsection (3) above—

“endangered species” means a species listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (which is set out in Annex A to the Council Regulation) or in Annex C.1 to the Council Regulation; and

“essential bio-medical purposes” has the same meaning as in Council Directive No. 86/609/EEC F8 , and in subsection (3) above and this subsection “the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3626/82 F9 as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 869/88 F10 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 1970/92 F11 .]

[F12 (3B) Where a project licence authorises the setting free of a protected animal in the course of a series of regulated procedures, that licence shall include a condition requiring the prior consent of the Secretary of State to the setting free of the animal.

(3C) The Secretary of State shall not give his consent to the setting free of an animal in pursuance of a condition included in a project licence under subsection (3B) above unless he is satisfied—

(a) that the maximum possible care has been taken to safeguard the animal’s well-being;

(b) that the animal’s state of health allows it to be set free; and

(c) that the setting free of the animal poses no danger to public health or the environment.

(3D) The conditions of a project licence shall include such conditions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate to ensure—

(a) that where a protected animal has been subjected to a series of regulated procedures for a particular purpose, at the conclusion of the series a veterinary surgeon or, if none is available, another suitably qualified person determines whether the animal should be killed or kept alive;

(b) that, if that person considers that it is likely to remain in lasting pain or distress, the animal is killed by a method appropriate to the animal under Schedule 1 to this Act, or by such other method as may be authorised by the personal licence of the person by whom the animal is killed; and

(c) that where the animal is to be kept alive, it is kept at a designated establishment (subject to subsection (6D) below).]

(4) If the conditions of a personal licence permit the holder to use assistants to perform, under his direction, tasks not requiring technical knowledge nothing done by an assistant in accordance with such a condition shall constitute a contravention of section 3 above.

(5) The conditions of a certificate issued under section 6 above shall include a condition prohibiting the killing otherwise than by a method which is appropriate under Schedule 1 to this Act or approved by the Secretary of State of any protected animal kept at the establishment for experimental or other scientific purposes but not subjected to a regulated procedure or required to be killed by virtue of section 15 below; and the conditions of a certificate issued under section 7 above shall include a condition prohibiting the killing otherwise than by such a method of an animal of a description specified in Schedule 2 to this Act which is bred or kept for breeding or, as the case may be, kept at the establishment for the purposes of being supplied for use in regulated procedures but not used, or supplied for use, for that purpose.

[F13 (5A) The conditions of a certificate issued under section 6 above shall include such conditions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate to ensure—

(a) that sufficient trained staff are provided at the establishment; and

(b) that the persons who take care of protected animals at the establishment and those who supervise such persons have appropriate education and training.]

(6) The conditions of a certificate issued under section 6 or 7 above shall include conditions requiring the holder of the certificate—

(a) to secure that a person competent to kill animals in the manner specified by conditions imposed in accordance with subsection (5) above will be available to do so; and

(b) to keep records as respects the source and disposal of and otherwise relating to the animals kept at the establishment for experimental or other scientific purposes or, as the case may be, bred or kept for breeding there or kept there for the purposes of being supplied for use in regulated procedures.

[F14 (6A) The conditions of a certificate issued under section 6 or 7 above shall, if the certificate permits dogs, cats or primates to be kept or bred at the establishment in question, include conditions requiring the holder of the certificate to ensure—

(a) that particulars of the identity and origin of each dog, cat or primate kept or bred at the establishment are entered in the records referred to in subsection (6)(b) above;

(b) that before it is weaned, every dog, cat or primate in the establishment not falling within paragraph (c) below is provided with an individual identification mark in the least painful manner possible;

(c) that where a dog, cat or primate is transferred from one establishment to another before it is weaned and it is not practicable to mark it beforehand, the records kept by the establishment receiving the animal identify that animal’s mother until the animal is provided with an individual identification mark; and

(d) that any unmarked dog, cat or primate which is taken into the establishment after being weaned is provided as soon as possible thereafter with an individual identification mark.

(6B) The conditions of a certificate issued under section 6 or 7 above shall include such conditions relating to the general care and accommodation of protected animals bred, kept or used at the establishment as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in order to ensure—

(a) that the environment, housing, freedom of movement, food, water and care provided for each such animal are appropriate for the animal’s health and well-being;

(b) that any restrictions on the extent to which each such animal can satisfy its physiological and ethological needs are kept to the absolute minimum;

(c) that the environmental conditions in which such animals are bred, kept or used are checked daily;

(d) that the well-being and state of health of such animals are monitored by a suitably qualified person in order to prevent pain or avoidable suffering, distress or lasting harm; and

(e) that arrangements are made to ensure that any defect or suffering discovered is eliminated as quickly as possible.

(6C) When considering what conditions are appropriate to ensure the matters specified in subsection (6B)(a) and (b) above, the Secretary of State shall have regard to the guidance in Annex II to Council Directive No. 86/609/EEC.

(6D) The conditions of a certificate issued under section 6 or 7 above shall include such conditions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate to ensure that any animal kept alive after being subjected to a series of regulated procedures will continue to be kept at the establishment under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon or other suitably qualified person unless it is moved to another designated establishment or a veterinary surgeon certifies that it will not suffer if it ceases to be kept at a designated establishment.]

(7) Breach of a condition in a licence or certificate shall not invalidate the licence or certificate but shall be a ground for its variation or revocation.

Extent Information

E1 In its application to Northern Ireland, this section has effect subject to the modifications set out in s. 29, see s. 29(1)

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 10(2A) inserted (5.9.1998) by S.I. 1998/1974, reg. 2, Sch. para. 4(2)

F2 OJ No. L358, 18.12.86, p.1.

F3 S. 10(3)(c) and word 'and' preceding it inserted (1.10.1993) by S.I. 1993/2102, reg. 2(2)(a)

F4 S. 10(3)(d) and word preceding it inserted (5.9.1998) by S.I. 1998/1974, reg. 2, Sch. para. 4(3)(a)

F5 Words in s. 10(3) inserted (5.9.1998) by S.I. 1998/1974, reg. 2, sch. para. 4(3)(b)

F6 Words in s. 10(3) added (1.10.1993) by S.I. 1993/2102, reg. 2(2)(b)

F7 S. 10(3A) inserted (1.10.1993) by S.I. 1993/2102, reg. 2(3)

F8 OJ No. L358, 18.12.86, p.1.

F9 OJ No. L384, 31.12.82, p.1.

F10 OJ No. L087, 31.3.88, p.67.

F11 OJ No. L201, 20.7.92, p.1.

F12 S. 10(3B)-(3D) inserted (5.9.1998) by S.I. 1998/1974, reg. 2, Sch. para. 4(4)

F13 S. 10(5A) inserted (5.9.1998) by S.I. 1998/1974, reg. 2, Sch. para. 4(5)

F14 S. 10(6A)-(6D) inserted (5.9.1998) by S.I. 1998/1974, reg. 2, Sch. para. 4(6)