Virginia Code 3.2-6592: Manufacturers and contract testing facilities required to use alternative test methods when available
A. No manufacturer or contract testing facility shall use an animal test method when an alternative test method is available.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 3.2-6592
- Alternative test method: includes computational toxicology and bioinformatics, high-throughput screening methods, testing of categories of chemical substances, tiered testing methods, in vitro studies, and systems biology and new or revised methods. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
- Animal: means any live vertebrate nonhuman animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
- Animal test method: means a process or procedure that uses animals to obtain information on the characteristics of a chemical or agent or the biological effect of exposure to a chemical or agent under specified conditions. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Facility: means a building or portion thereof as designated by the State Veterinarian, other than a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds, that is used to contain a primary enclosure or enclosures in which animals are housed or kept. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
- Manufacturer: means any partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity that produces chemicals, ingredients, product formulations, or products. See Virginia Code 3.2-6591
B. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of a test method that does not use animals.
C. This section shall not apply to any manufacturer or contract test facility using an animal test method for the purpose of medical research related to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, control, or prevention of physical or mental diseases and impairments of humans and animals, or related to the development of devices or drugs, as those terms are defined in 21 U.S.C. § 321, biomedical products, or any other products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, except for any product regulated under Subchapter VI of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.). Such medical research does not include the testing of an ingredient that (i) was formerly used in a drug; (ii) was tested for use in a drug using commonly accepted animal testing methods to characterize the ingredient and to substantiate its safety for human use; and (iii) is proposed for use in a product other than a biomedical product, medical device, or drug.
2018, c. 672.