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At one of the events to mark FRAME's 40th anniversary, two long-standing trustees of the charity independently answered 20 questions related to FRAME's role in the drafting and passage of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and on progress made since its introduction in 1987, in terms of the reduction, refinement and replacement of animal procedures in fundamental research and testing.

Assessment of pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm in animal research could be carried out more successfully by adopting the practical risk assessment approach currently in use in farming

Determining ethical standards for laboratory animal euthanasia requires an assessment of the relative amounts of pain and distress caused by different methods. Animal behaviour data are an important indicator of pain and distress, but their interpretation can be controversial; moreover, behaviour is more easily assessed with some euthanasia methods than with others. While every euthanasia method requires careful study, CO2inhalation has come under close scrutiny both because it is so widely used for rodent euthanasia, and because it has, until recently, long been considered relatively non-aversive.

This summarises a draft report of the Non-human Primate Working Group, prepared for the European Union's Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare. It was formally adopted by the Scientific Committee at their meeting in December 2002, and the full text is available online at http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scah/out83_en.pdf.