Activities with laboratory animals

Information about the approval

For experiments with mammals, birds, reptiles, amfibians, fish and cyclostomes, approval is required from the laboratory animal ethics boards. The experiment must not begin before the board has approved it. In order to obtain approval for projects, the benefit of the experiment must be greater than the harm 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 laboratory animal ethics board that handles applications for the county in which the activities will be conducted. The divisions are as follows:

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

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

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

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

The Umeå Laboratory Animal 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 County Administrative Board is the supervisory authority. For an authority that comes under the Ministry of Defence the supervisory authority is the Defence Inspector for Environment and Health.