The evolution and adoption of standards used by AAALAC

The Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC) has operated its accreditation program for more than 45 y by using the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Guide) as a basic guide in the generation of accreditation standards. AAALAC supplements its reliance on the Guide with a number of documents, referred to as reference resources, that undergo a formal review and adoption process by AAALAC. Two reference resources have grown in importance to the accreditation process over the past decade as institutions from outside of the United States have increasingly sought accreditation and as greater numbers of agricultural animals are used in research programs. These 2 reference resources were the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes, Council of Europe (ETS 123), and the Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Teaching (Ag Guide). During the past 2 y, the Guide, Ag Guide, and ETS 123 were revised, prompting AAALAC to reevaluate these resources to determine the role each should play in the development of standards used for accreditation by AAALAC. As a result of AAALAC's review and analysis, the organization has adopted these 3 documents as primary standards. This article summarizes AAALAC's processes for the review, adoption, and implementation of these standards offering insights into the application of these standards in the accreditation process.