NIH Proposes New Standards of Care for Chimpanzees

On 11 January, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement provisions of the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act (CHIMP Act) authorizing the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to develop and publish standards of care for chimpanzees held in the Sanctuary system supported by federal funds authorized under the CHIMP Act7.

The proposed rule would add a new part 9 to CFR title 42 to “establish standards for operating the Sanctuary system to provide for the permanent retirement of surplus chimpanzees” and “specify the scope and specific standards that must be met by all contractors (primary and subcontractors) operating under the federally supported Chimpanzee Sanctuary system7.” To be considered in the final rulemaking, comments identified by RIN number 0925-AA31 must be received at NIH on or before 14 March. Comments can be submitted online at http://www.regulations.gov.

HSUS Sues USDA to Repost Facilities Reports on the Web

On 27 January, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) filed suit against the US Department of Agriculture to obtain access to certain records concerning animal research facilities8. HSUS requested that the USDA provide, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), reports, including inspection and annual reports on USDA-regulated animal research facilities, that the USDA had posted on its website until 2002.

Although the removal of these documents from the web site does not preclude public access to the documents, the HSUS claimed that it takes years to obtain them by filing requests through the USDA's FOIA office, in violation of the law and in contrast to their immediate availability to the public when on USDA's website. Martin Stephens, PhD, HSUS vice president of animal research issues, said in an HSUS press release, “We would like to see the return of these reports to the USDA website to provide the public speedier access to the documents and allow for a timely follow-up on issues such as the identification of trends in painful and distressful use of research animals8.”