In 2013, more than 626,000 animals were subjected to all kind of tests in Belgian laboratories. GAIA urges the development of a political strategy to advance concrete and realistic targets in order to gradually abolish all use of animals in the name of science and public health. This is why GAIA has declared the following 6 achievable priorities:
1. Establishment of a Belgian Centre for Alternative Methods
Already since 2009 Belgian law provides for the creation of a Belgian centre for alternative methods to animal testing, but this has yet to materialise.
2. A tax on laboratory animals
GAIA suggests instituting a tax on the use of laboratory animals. Specifically, businesses and scientific institutions conducting animal testing should pay a sum of money for each animal on which they perform tests.
3. Reduction of the number of laboratory animals
GAIA considers that a clear strategy, with concrete targets, is needed to reduce the number of animals used in testing - for example, 5% fewer animals used each year.
4. Prohibition of animal testing for household products
Following the cosmetics testing ban, GAIA is fighting for a similar EU-wide ban on animal tests for household products
5. Transparency in animal testing
GAIA asks that the Government provides, in addition to annual figures on the number of laboratory animals used, much more accurate data about the nature of the tests, the degree of animal suffering involved and the amount of pain experienced by the animals.
6. A well-functioning Ethics Committee
GAIA also requires that this federal body, which should make recommendations concerning animal testing to the appropriate Minister, be composed in a balanced way, through incorporation of some of its representatives.