British politicians say they will retain stricter animal testing standards than required by a new European Union directive.
Home Office Minister, Lynne Featherstone, said that special protection for dogs cats and primates would be maintained, the BBC reports.
Ms Featherstone also said that a centralised system for approving research licenses would continue, a statement welcomed by the research community and animal welfare organisations.
But the RSPCA's senior scientific officer, Barney Reed said that he was concerned the UK Government was initially prepared to accept EU regulations which would have allowed smaller cage sizes, the use of less humane killing methods and the watering down of the powers of ethics committees which oversee animal research.
Running hard to stand still
"It's been unfortunate that we've had to battle for 18 months to pretty much stand still and maintain the standards that we currently have," he told BBC News.
EU officials have set minimum standards for the care and welfare of animals used in research in a directive which has to be implemented by the beginning of next year. The regulations are largely in line with UK directives, but in a small number of areas, the standards are slightly lower.
Professor Roger Lemon, a prominent medical researcher at University College London and spokesman for the campaign organisation Understanding Animal Research, said the UK had the highest welfare standards in the world for animal experimentation.
"We applaud the Home Office decision to hold on to those high standards," he said.
