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On June 1, 2026, the European Commission adopted the Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments, which underscores the EU's unwavering commitment to animal welfare, ethical imperatives, and fostering industrial competitiveness through innovative non-animal approaches.
This roadmap encompasses 15 legislative domains, spanning consumer products, pesticides, biocides, chemical pharmaceuticals, food and feed additives, and verification of medical device biocompatibility. It interplays with various EU policies, including the Chemicals Industry Action Plan, Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, to create favorable conditions for folstering innovation.
Importantly, this roadmp aspires to transition from traditional animal testing methods to innovative non-animal approaches without sacrificing the integrity of safety evaluations. In other words, the Non-animal approaches must deliver a level of protection equivalent to that of currently established methods.
The roadmap details a set of 22 concrete actions, anchored by three foundational pillars as follows:
Pillar I: Making Change Happen – Towards Phasing Out Animal Use
This pillar focuses on streamlining regulatory needs and accelerating the development, validation, standardization, and application of non-animal approaches. It champions the implementation of over 30 concrete recommendations to replace, reduce, or refine animal testing for both human health and environmental safety assessments.
Pillar II: Keeping Europe at the Forefront of Research and Innovation
This pillar emphasizes significant investment in research and development, fostering an industrial ecosystem, and leveraging advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Pillar III: Working Together in Europe and Beyond
This pillar focuses on establishing a robust organizational framework for collaboration among EU Member States, regulatory sectors, and international partners.
The Commission has established a comprehensive indicator framework (see Annex Table 1) to monitor the progress of implementing these actions.
By 2029, a high-level conference will be organized to assess progress and determine the strategic way forward, particularly regarding the increased use and uptake of non-animal approaches in EU legislation, including REACH.
