[Law, guidelines and standards relevant to laboratory animals and animal experimentation]

Presently available laws guidelines and standards relevant to laboratory animals and animal experimentation are reviewed. In Japan there exist Animal Protection and Management Act, and the Guideline for Animal Care and Management which was later prepared in accordance with the former act. These are comparable in quality to those seen in foreign countries such as the Cruelty to Animals Act of Great Britain or the Animal Welfare Act of U.S.A. As for laboratory animals, however, only basic matters appear there, and that is why the Japanese National Academy of Science in 1980 proposed legislation of a guideline for animal experimentation to the government. It is awaited to legislate sooner the one comparable to the Guidelines for the Regulation of Animal Experimentation prepared by ICLA in 1974. Other laws and regulations referred and discussed here are: *standards and guidelines for breeding, care and management of laboratory animals *veterinary laws and regulations which should be referred when domestic or wild animals are to be used for experiments *laws and regulations for general housing construction and environmental protection *regulations for particular experiments where radioisotopes, microbial infections or recombinant DNA are in use