Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a response to the Animals in Science Committee's research entitled Commission of advice: non-human primates bred for use in scientific procedures, published on 6 September 2022; and whether she plans to permit the import of monkeys whose parents have been taken from the wild for use in scientific procedures.

Through the UK legislation, the government requires the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) to be delivered for non-human primates (NHPs) in scientific research. When there is no alternative to using NHPs in scientific procedures, the Government is committed to high standards of welfare and refinement.

The Government is therefore keen to continue to take steps to ensure that NHPs used in Great Britain are from self-sustaining colonies, or are second-generation bred in captivity. The Government intends to publish strengthened policy, based on the Animals in Science Committee recommendations, later in 2025.