The roadmap, which is divided into three pillars and includes 22 actions, foresees, according to information from the Community executive, the gradual replacement of animal testing for chemical safety assessments in 15 domains, including chemicals for industrial and consumer use, pesticides and biocides, pharmaceuticals and additives for human and animal food.

The roadmap also defines indicators to monitor progress in implementing the actions and recommendations.

The first pillar of the proposal aims to accelerate the development and adoption of approaches that do not use animals and includes specific recommendations to replace, reduce or improve animal testing in safety assessments for human health and the environment.

The objective of the second pillar is to keep Europe at the forefront of research and innovation within an expanded ecosystem of business, research, and innovation to develop animal-free approaches.

The actions include leveraging artificial intelligence and big data to develop methods.

The third pillar concerns the promotion of collaboration with international regulators.

The Commission will begin implementing the roadmap immediately, in close collaboration with Member States, EU agencies and stakeholders.

By 2029, the Commission will organise a high-level conference to take stock of progress, focusing on increasing the use and adoption of animal-free approaches across relevant EU legislation, including REACH, the EU legislation on chemicals.