Animal experiment activities

Information about the approval

For experiments with animals of the classes mammal, bird, reptile, batrachian, fish and cyclostome, approval is required from the animal experiment ethics boards. The experiment must not begin before the board has approved it. In order to obtain approval for animal experiment activities, the value of the experiment must be greater than the suffering the animals may be subjected to, and there must not be any sufficiently good alternatives to using animals.

An ethical approval is valid for no longer than five years. 

Application and inspection

Send your application to the animal experiment ethics board that handles applications for the county in which the activities will be conducted. The divisions are as follows:

The Stockholm South Animal Experiment Ethics Board handles applications for Gotland and the part of Södermanland that is a part of Stockholm County.

The Stockholm North Animal Experiment Ethics Board handles applications for the part of Uppland that belongs to Stockholm County.

The Uppsala Animal Experiment Ethics Board handles applications for Uppsala, Västmanland, Dalarna and Gävleborg counties. The Uppsala Board also reviews all experiments relating to clinical trials of veterinary medicines.

The Linköping Animal Experiment Ethics Board handles applications for Södermanland, Östergötland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Kalmar and Örebro counties.

The Malmö/Lund Animal Experiment Ethics Board handles applications for Blekinge, Skåne and Halland counties.

The Gothenburg Animal Experiment Ethics Board handles applications for Västra Götaland and Värmland counties.

The Umeå Animal Experiment Ethics Board handles applications for Västernorrland, Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten counties. The Umeå board also reviews all experiments at an authority that comes under the Ministry of Defence.

The Swedish Board of Agriculture is the supervisory authority.