Rep. Ken Calvert on the ICCVAM Authorization Act

On the 13th of April, 2000, I introduced the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) Authorization Act of 2000, H.R. 4281. This legislation is aimed at stopping needless animal testing by creating statutory authority for an existing federal interagency committee to establish guidelines that promote the acceptance of new and revised product safety tests.

In essence, my legislation created a centralized clearinghouse for information on test methods without additional budget expenditures since ICCVAM was already in operation. My bill simply sanctioned ICCVAM and required the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies to comply.

The National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993 first prompted the creation of ICCVAM. ICCVAM unites representatives from 17 federal agencies and programs for the coordination of the development and review of various alternative toxicological methods to support human health or environmental risk assessments.

My legislation helped to ensure that the lives of millions of test animals are not taken needlessly, while serving to conserve scarce research funding and increase the use of consistent and more accurate research testing methods.

Highlights of the ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000 include: that the chemical industry will see reduced testing costs and higher accuracy of results, along with reduced liability in research testing; that the numbers of animals used in research and regulatory test labs will be reduced when reliable alternative methods are available; that the approval and adoption of new test methods with higher accuracy than traditional animal testing methods will be expedited; and that the protection of public and environmental health and safety will be enhanced.

The legislation is expected to reduce testing costs and liability in product safety testing, increase the accuracy of results and improve data available to regulators, while enhancing the protection of public and environmental health and safety.

The bill was introduced and signed into law with strong and broad support of an overwhelming coalition of companies and groups that spanned the political spectrums. These organizations and companies include: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Gillette Company, American Humane Society, Proctor and Gamble Company, American Crop Protection Association, American Chemistry Council, and Doris Day Animal League. Strong bipartisan congressional support also existed with 37 cosponsors split almost equally between Republicans and Democrats.

Many people are credited with the ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000's passage into law. People worked hard and worked to ensure that this bill received a consensus agreement, and I am proud to say, that we have a law today that achieved this goal.

The legislation went through a series of steps: introduction on the 13th of April; mark-up and passage in the Commerce Committee on October 5th where Representative Brian Bilbray (R-CA) offered a substitute amendment to provide technical changes to strengthen and clarify the bill; consideration before the full House of Representatives on October 17th; and, signing into law on December 18, 2000, where it became Public Law 106-545.

The ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000 is a testament to what can be done when different groups come together for an important cause. This legislation reached an important outcome; reducing the number of needless animal deaths and so much more. It saves the American taxpayers money by ensuring a streamlined approach to the approval of toxicological test methods. And, it saves chemical and pharmaceutical companies millions of dollars by eliminating time-consuming and costly test method validation at several government agencies. Everyone wins with ICCVAM.

Learn more about DDAL's campaign on Animal Testing and Research.

Published in the Fall 2001 Animal Guardian.

Ken Calvert represents the 43rd Congressional District of Southern California. He is currently serving his fifth term with the U.S. House of Representatives.