Animal Testing Permit
If you want to carry out animal experiments, you generally need a permit from the State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES) before the start of the experiment.
Animal experiments are interventions or treatments
- for experimental purposes on animals where they may cause pain, suffering or harm to those animals
- for experimental purposes on animals which may result in the birth or hatching of animals suffering pain, suffering or harm
- for experimental purposes on the genetic material of animals where they may cause pain, suffering or harm to the mutagenic animals or their carriers
- which are carried out for the manufacture, extraction, storage or reproduction of substances, products or organisms
- are removed, in whole or in part, by the organs or tissues for the purpose of scientific purposes or for the purposes of education, training or further education
Requirements
The extensive approval requirements are listed in the Animal Welfare Act in conjunction with the Animal Welfare Laboratory Animal Ordinance. In addition, you need an animal welfare officer before submitting an application for approval of animal experiments. You can report this to the State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES) using the form provided for this purpose.
Applications / forms
- Application form and attachments
- From 2023, you will also be able to apply for authorisation online via the company portal for consumer health protection
Which documents are required?
- Application for notification/authorisation of animal experiments
- Non-technical project summary (NTP) with NTPID from the database of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment on
- where appropriate, final assessment of genetically modified breeding lines
- Load table
- Score Sheet
- Recording model according to § 9 para. 5 Animal Protection Act
- Person sheets
- Biometric Planning Information Forms
- Evidence of the training and knowledge and skills and animal experience of the persons involved
- In the case of universities as applicants: Supplement Financing
What are the fees?
Fees: 50 – 2,000 euros
Expenses: In the actual amount in accordance with § 13 of the Lower Saxony Administrative Costs Act (NVwKostG)
Process flow
After you have submitted the required documents to the State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), they will be checked for formal completeness. You will receive a formal acknowledgment of receipt. Subsequently, the application will be submitted to the commission for review in accordance with Section 15 of the Animal Welfare Act (TierSchG) at the next possible meeting and examined from a technical and ethical point of view. In addition, an opinion from the responsible animal welfare officer is obtained. If you have any questions/complaints, you will be asked to comment in writing before a final decision is made.
What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?
They may only start animal experiments after the appointment of an animal welfare officer and after receipt of the permit.
Processing duration
The State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety must notify you of a decision on the application within 40 working days of receipt of an application that meets the requirements of § 31 of the Animal Welfare Laboratory Animal Ordinance . Even after expiry of this period, the test project may only be started once a permit has been obtained.
What else should I know?
Further information can be found on the LAVES website.
In exceptional cases, a notification of the test project is sufficient. The specific exceptions are listed in Section 8a (1-3) of the Animal Protection Act .
Legal basis
Appeal
An action may be brought against the decision within one month of notification. The action must be filed in writing with the competent administrative court, or for the record of the clerk of the registry of that court. The action may also be brought with a qualified electronic signature by means of a delivery via the Court's Electronic Judicial and Administrative Mailbox (EGVP).
