Adopted in Strasbourg on 18 March, 1986.

PREAMBLE

The member States of the Council of Europe, signatory hereto,

Recalling that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve

a greater unity between its members and that it wishes to co-operate

with other States in the protection of live animals used for

experimental and other scientific purposes;

Recognising that man has a moral obligation to respect all

animals and to have due consideration for their capacity for

suffering and memory;

Accepting nevertheless that man in his quest for knowledge,

health and safety has a need to use animals where there is a

reasonable expectation that the result will be to extend knowledge

or be to the overall benefit of man or animal, just as he uses them

for food, clothing and as beasts of burden;

Resolved to limit the use of animals for experimental and

other scientific purposes, with the aim of replacing such use

wherever practical, in particular by seeking alternative measures

and encouraging the use of these alternative measures;

Desirous to adopt common provisions in order to protect

animals used in those procedures which may possibly cause pain,

suffering, distress or lasting harm and to ensure that where

unavoidable they shall be kept to a minimum,

Have agreed as follows:

Part I

General Principles

Article 1

1. This Convention applies to any animal used or intended for use

in any experimental or other scientific procedure where that

procedure may cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. It

does not apply to any non-experimental agricultural or clinical

veterinary practice.

2. In this Convention:

(a) "animal", unless otherwise qualified, means any live non-human

vertebrate, including free-living and/or reproducing larval forms,

but excluding other foetal or embryonic forms;

(b) "intended for use" means bred or kept for the purpose of sale,

disposal or use in any experimental or other scientific procedure;

(c) "procedure" means any experimental or other scientific use of

an animal which may cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm,

including any course of action intended to, or liable to, result in

the birth of an animal in any such conditions, but excluding the

least painful methods accepted in modern practice (that is, "humane"

methods) of killing or marking an animal. A procedure starts when an

animal is first prepared for use and ends when no further

observations are to be made for that procedure; the elimination of

pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm by the successful use of

anaesthesia or analgesia or other methods does not place the use of

an animal outside the scope of this definition;

(d) "competent person" means any person who is considered by a

Party to be competent in its territory to perform the relevant

function described in this Convention;

(e) "responsible authority" means in the territory of a given

Party, any authority, body or person designated for the relevant

purpose;

(f) "establishment" means any stable or mobile facility, any

building, group of buildings or other premises, including a place

which is not wholly enclosed or covered;

(g) "breeding establishment" means any establishment where animals

are bred with a view to their use in procedures;

(h) "supplying establishment" means any establishment, other than

a breeding establishment, from which animals are supplied with a

view to their use in procedures;

(i) "user establishment" means any establishment where animals are

used in procedures;

(j) "humane method of killing" means the killing of an animal with

a minimum of physical and mental suffering appropriate to the

species.

Article 2

A procedure may be performed for one or more of the following

purposes only and subject to the restrictions laid down in this

Convention:

(a) (i) avoidance or prevention of disease, ill-health or other

abnormality, of their effects, in man, vertebrate or

invertebrate animals or plants, including the production

and the quality, efficacy and safety testing of drugs,

substances or products;

(ii) diagnosis or treatment of disease, ill-health or other

abnormality, or their effects, in man, vertebrate or

invertebrate animals or plants;

(b) detection, assessment, regulation or modification of

physiological conditions in man, vertebrate and invertebrate

animals or plants;

(c) protection of the environment;

(d) scientific research;

(e) education and training;

(f) forensic inquiries.

Article 3

Each Party undertakes to take all the necessary steps to give

effect to the provisions of this Convention and to ensure an

effective system of control and supervision as soon as possible and

in any case within a period of five years from the date of entry

into force of the present Convention in respect of that Party.

Article 4

No provision in this Convention shall affect the liberty of

the Parties to adopt stricter measures for the protection of animals

used in procedures or for the control and restriction of the use of

animals in procedures.

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Part VI

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Article 21

1. Animals of the species listed below which are for use in

procedures shall be acquired directly from or originate from

registered breeding establishments, unless a general or special

exemption has been obtained under arrangements to be determined by

the Party:

Mouse Mus musculus

Rat Rattus norvegicus

Guinea pig Cavia porcellus

Golden hamster Mesocricetus auratus

Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus

Dog Canis familiaris

Cat Felis catus

Quail Coturnix coturnix

2. Each Party undertakes to extend the provisions of paragraph 1

of this article to other species, in particular of the order of

primates, as soon as there is a reasonable prospect of a sufficient

supply of purpose-bred animals of the species concerned.

3. Straying animals of a domesticated species shall not be used

in procedures. A general exemption made under the conditions of

paragraph 1 of this article may not extend to stray dogs and cats.

Article 22

In user establishments, only animals supplied from registered

breeding or supplying establishments shall be used, unless a general

or special exemption has been obtained under arrangements to be

determined by the Party.

......

Part XI

Final provisions

Article 31

This Convention shall be open for signature by the member

States of the Council of Europe and by the European Communities. It

is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. Instruments of

ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the

Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Article 32

1. This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the

month following the expiration of a period of six months after the

date on which four member States of the Council of Europe have

expressed their consent to be bound by the Convention in accordance

with the provisions of Article 31.

2. In respect of a Signatory which subsequently expresses its

consent to be bound by it, the Convention shall enter into force on

the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of

six months after the date of the deposit of the instrument of

ratification, acceptance or approval.

Article 33

1. After the entry into force of this Convention, the Committee

of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite any State not a

member of the Council to accede to this Convention, by a decision

taken by the majority provided for in Article 20 (d) of the Statute

of the Council of Europe and by the unanimous vote of the

representatives of the Contracting States entitled to sit on the

Committee.

2. In respect of any acceding State, the Convention shall enter

into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of

a period of six months after the date of deposit of the instrument

of accession with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Article 34

1. Any Signatory may, at the time of signature or when depositing

its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession,

make one or more reservations. No reservations may, however, be made

in respect of Articles 1 to 14 or Articles 18 to 20.

2. Any Party which has made a reservation under the preceding

paragraph may wholly or partly withdraw it by means of a

notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of

Europe. The withdrawal shall take effect on the date of receipt of

such notification by the Secretary General.

3. A Party which has made a reservation in respect of a provision

of this Convention may not claim the application of that provision

by any other Party; it may, however, if its reservation is partial

or conditional, claim the application of that provision insofar as

it has itself accepted it.

Article 35

1. Any Signatory may, at the time of signature or when depositing

its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession,

specify the territory or territories to which the Convention shall

apply.

2. Any Party may at any later date, by a declaration addressed to

the Secretary General addressed to the Secretary General of the

Council of Europe, extend the application of this Convention to any

other territory specified in the declaration. In respect of such

territory, the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of

the month following the expiration of a period of six months after

the date of receipt of such declaration by the Secretary General.

3. Any declaration made under the two preceding paragraphs may,

in respect of any territory specified in such declaration, be

withdrawn by a notification addressed to the Secretary General. The

withdrawal shall become effective on the first day of the month

following the expiration of a period of six months after the date of

receipt of such notification by the Secretary General.

Article 36

1. Any Party may at any time denounce this Convention by means of

a notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of

Europe.

2. Such denunciation shall become effective on the first day of

the month following the expiration of a period of six months after

the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.

Article 37

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify

the member States of the Council of Europe, the European Communities

and any State which has acceded to this Convention of:

(a) any signature;

(b) the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance,

approval or accession;

(c) any date of entry into force of this Convention in accordance

with Article 32, 33 and 35;

(d) any other act, notification or communication relating to this

Convention.

In Witness Whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto,

have signed this Convention.

Done at Strasbourg, this 18th day of March 1986, in English and

French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which

shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The

Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified

copies to each member State of the Council of Europe, to the

European Communities and to any State invited to accede to this

Convention.