                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 3.2-6591)

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;Alternative test method&#8221; means a test method that (i) provides
information of equivalent or better scientific quality and relevance than animal
test methods, (ii) has been identified by a validation body and adopted by the
relevant federal agency or program within an agency responsible for regulating
the specific product or activity for which the test is being conducted, and
(iii) does not use animals, or, when there is no test method available that does
not use animals, uses the fewest animals possible and reduces the level of
suffering or stress, to the greatest extent possible, of an animal used for
testing. &#8220;Alternative test method&#8221; includes computational toxicology
and bioinformatics, high-throughput screening methods, testing of categories of
chemical substances, tiered testing methods, in vitro studies, and systems
biology and new or revised methods.
		&#8220;Animal&#8221; means any live vertebrate nonhuman animal.
		&#8220;Animal test method&#8221; means a process or procedure that uses
animals to obtain information on the characteristics of a chemical or agent or
the biological effect of exposure to a chemical or agent under specified
conditions.
		&#8220;Animal testing facility&#8221; means any facility, including a private
entity, state agency, or institution of higher education, that confines and uses
dogs or cats for research, education, testing, or other scientific or medical
purposes.
		&#8220;Contract testing facility&#8221; means any partnership, corporation,
association, or other legal relationship that tests chemicals, ingredients,
product formulations, or products on behalf of another entity.
		&#8220;Manufacturer&#8221; means any partnership, corporation, association, or
other legal entity that produces chemicals, ingredients, product formulations,
or products.
		&#8220;Validation body&#8221; means an organization that seeks to facilitate
development, validation, and regulatory acceptance of new and revised regulatory
test methods that reduce, refine, or replace the use of animals in testing, such
as the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative
Methods or other similar organizations.

HISTORY: 2018, c. 672; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 340.