We request the abolition of the breeding and providing monkeys for animal experiments by the National BioResource Project “Japanese Macaques”.

The National BioResource Project (NBRP) is a major project initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in 2002. The purpose of the project is to collect  and stably provide  bio-resources (biological and genetic resources) such as animals, plants and microorganisms, which are so-called experimental materials, for life science research. Various species of animals such as mice, rats, birds, fish, amphibians, insects and others as well as Japanese Macaques are being handled (as of January 2023).

The project for “Japanese Macaques” initially set a goal of collecting 1,500 to 2,400 macaques as a mother group and providing 300 macaques for experiments each year. And to make a mother group, overbred Japanese Macaques are collected from zoos and wild  monkey parks, and the offspring monkeys continue to be provided for experiments.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend to avoid the use of animals in science. For example, in 2010, the EU specified that “this Directive represents an important step forward achieving the final goal of full replacement of procedures on live animals for scientific and educational purposes as soon as it is scientifically possible to do so”, in “EU directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes ” which member states are obliged to comply with. Furthermore, on September 15th, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the European Commission to establish an action plan to actively phase out the use of animal experiments.

In addition, the Netherlands has already declared that it will become global leader in innovation without relying on experimental animals by 2025.  Japan should also aim to abolish the use of animals for testing. 

There is significant international criticism of using primates, which have high cognitive abilities and social skills for animal experiments and there is no future for the resource that is moving toward stricter regulations.  The “Japanese Macaques” project should be terminated as a first step.

Therefore, we request you take the following actions.

1. NBRP “Japanese Macaques” project should be terminated by  the end of the 5th period (April 2022-March 2027).
   
   
2. In the 6th period, we request that you reduce the number of projects adapted applications not only for the Japanese Macaques but also for other animal  species as much as possible, and support projects that lead to the development of research methods that do not involve animal experiments.  

Deadline / March 31st , 2025

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[About organizations calling for the signature]
This signature is a joint campaign by the following two organizations.

Japan Anti-Vivisection Association (JAVA)
https://www.java-animal.org/

Put an End to Animal Cruelty and Exploitation (PEACE)
https://animals-peace.net/