Bill 465.

Summary.

The bill sets rules for the production, breeding, use, handling and care of animals employed in scientific research and teaching throughout Panama. It would apply to public and private individuals and legal entities. Animal use would require scientific justification showing that the intended results cannot be obtained through other validated procedures available in the country. Its objectives include applying the three Rs—replacement, reduction and refinement—and addressing animals’ nutrition, environment, health, behavior and mental state. It defines terms including experimental animal, welfare, animal facility, biosafety, ethical review and euthanasia.

The bill creates the National Committee for Animal Research in Panama (Comité Nacional de Investigación Animal de Panamá, CNIAP) as an unpaid body institutionally attached to the National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación), with autonomy over its internal organization. Its guidelines would cover housing, transport, painful procedures, training and euthanasia criteria. The committee would include representatives of public bodies, scientific institutes, the University of Panama (Universidad de Panamá), veterinary and laboratory animal associations, and animal protection organizations. Its functions would include issuing criteria for institutional committees, advising researchers and authorities, maintaining digital registers, promoting annual reports and training, overseeing activities and establishing external audits. The bill provides for financial self-management and administrative support and resources from the secretariat. It also calls for coordination with the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) and the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio de Ambiente).

Institutions conducting research or teaching with animals would have to submit their protocols to an institutional committee accredited and registered with CNIAP. Collaboration or supervision arrangements are provided for researchers without a committee of their own. Each committee would include members with research, veterinary and animal protection backgrounds and would adopt rules for selecting its members. It would review protocols before activities begin, considering social value, scientific validity, species selection, risks, benefits and animal suffering. It would also register protocols and personnel, authorize and monitor procedures, inspect animal facilities and be able to suspend animal use following breaches.

Research involving wild animals would require the relevant permits from the Ministry of Environment. Animal use would be a last resort, and validated alternative models would be used when available. Research centers would restrict disclosure of images of animal procedures unless approved for educational or accountability purposes. Teaching would require suitable facilities, qualified personnel, prior approval of practical work and reports at the end of each academic year. The number of animals would have to be the minimum necessary; reuse and suffering would be limited, while practices involving torture, unjustified suffering or intentional killing without proper euthanasia would be prohibited. The bill excludes certain veterinary, agricultural, sporting and entertainment activities and refers cosmetic testing and research involving threatened species to the rules applicable to them.

Institutions would have to provide suitable housing and animal facilities, biosafety and occupational health programs, arrangements for waste, emergencies and zoonotic risks, and safe transport procedures. The Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development (Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral) would oversee occupational health in coordination with the Ministry of Health. Following an investigation, CNIAP or institutional committees could issue written notices or suspend ethical approvals; CNIAP could disqualify persons responsible for deliberate mistreatment, repeated unauthorized practices or gross negligence from working with animals. The bill provides for review of control measures and directs any monetary penalties imposed under its regulations to CNIAP programs. The Executive Branch would issue regulations within six months of promulgation, and the proposed law would take effect the following day.

The bill concerns the National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development, and the other bodies represented on CNIAP. It could affect or interest research centers, universities, veterinary professionals, animal facility staff and animal protection organizations in the Republic of Panama.