WRITTEN QUESTION No. 957/97 by Gianni TAMINO to the Commission. Project on the detection of germ cell mutagens, STEP programme
Date: 1997-03-13
Institutions: European Parliament, TAMINO
Subjects: EU aid, EU programme, Italy, Nuclear Energy Agency, animal experimentation, nuclear fission, nuclear safety, public health, radiation protection, research policy













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91997E0957

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 957/97 by Gianni TAMINO to the Commission. Project on the detection of germ cell mutagens, STEP programme  


Official Journal C 319 , 18/10/1997 P. 0206 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0957/97 by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Commission (13 March 1997)Subject: Project on the detection of germ cell mutagens, STEP programmeIn June 1993, the ENEA notified the relevant authorities, in accordance with the Italian legislation on animal experiments, that it was conducting experiments on 1 400 mice, over a period of 18 months, with Community funding, at the Casaccia-Roma CRE with a view to developing new methodologies to determine the genotoxic effects induced in the male germ line cell of mice as a result of treatment with mutagenic agents.Is the Commission aware of these experiments? How much financial assistance was provided and what innovative results were obtained? Is the Commission aware that the experiments were conducted without using anaesthetics, without applying for permission not to use them as required by Italian law and without the laboratory having received the necessary authorization - on the date of the notification - from the Italian Ministry of Health? Has the funding granted to this laboratory been renewed?Joint answer to Written Questions E-0957/97 and E-0958/97 given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (24 April 1997)The research to which the questions refer was undertaken in the framework of two shared-cost action Research & development (R& D) contracts Science and technology for environmental protection (STEP-CT910144 and STEP-CT910159). In the first of these, the Community contribution to European nuclear energy agency (ENEA) was ECU 117 000, representing 20% of the total costs of the work. In the second, the work was subcontracted to ENEA by the Italian Centro Nazionale di Ricerca which received ECU 44 000 from the Commission, representing 50% of the costs of its work. The Commission is aware of the work undertaken in both projects theresults of which have been published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Final synthesis reports were published in a special issue of the journal Mutation research in 1996 (volume 353, pages 65-84 and 11-46 respectively). No tests which required anaesthesia were conducted in the projects. The Commission has also been assured that the facility at Casaccia has been in operation since the early 1960's with a long tradition of implementation of the most advanced conditions for animal health and care.The results of both projects contributed directly to the goals of the STEP research programme and indirectly to Commission policy on chemicals safety and assessment, in that they helped develop improved methodologies for chemicals safety assessment, leading to a better protection of man and the environment.Both of the 36 month contracts started on 1 October 1991, four months before the Italian legislation (27 January 1992). The law and its procedures were clarified by the Italian government in a series of circulars during 1992-1994. During this period, the authorities were notified of the research and according to the law, the experiments were thenceforth permitted. The contracts terminated on 30 September 1994 and have not been renewed.