Useful Information

Application for Animal Experiment Licence

Animals (Control of Experiments) Ordinance (Cap. 340)

The This link will open in a new windowAnimals (Control of Experiments) Ordinance (Cap. 340) (the Ordinance) provides for the control of experiments on living vertebrate animals. Under the Ordinance,"animal" means a living vertebrate animal and "experiment" means any experiment performed on an animal and calculated to give pain to the animal. Before performing an animal experiment, a person shall apply for a licence for that particular experiment. Please refer to the sections below for details.

Type of Licences

There are different types of licence, permit and endorsements for experiments of different nature which include:

• Licence to Conduct Experiment (Form 2);
• Endorsement to Authorize Experiments to Attain Manual Skills (Form 3);
• Teaching Permit (Form 4); and
• Endorsement to Authorize Experiments without Anaesthetics or without Destroying the Animal (Form 5).

Application Procedures

To apply for licence/ permit/ endorsement(s), an applicant should submit the completed application form (Form 1) and Annex to Form 1 to the Director of Health online, by email or post:

Address:	Health Technology and Advisory Division Department of Health 21/F, Wu Chung House 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
E-mail:	ro_al@dh.gov.hk

Applicants are advised to read the This link will open in a new windowGuide to application for licence under the Animals (Control of Experiments) Ordinance (and/or abridged This link will open in a new windowNotes to applicants in presentation file format) before filling in the form. This link will open in a new windowExplanatory Notes and Samples of Completed Forms are available for reference.

With effect from 15 June 2022, for a licence, permit and/or endorsement granted under the Ordinance, an electronic licence will be sent to the applicant via the email address as provided in the application and no additional hard-copy of licence will be sent to the applicant by post.

Keeping Records and Rendering Returns

The This link will open in a new windowAnimals (Control of Experiments) Regulations stipulate that every licensee shall keep records of all licensed experiments performed by him/her in the form set out as Form 6 and shall render to the Director of Health on or before the 1st day of January of each year a return in the form set out as Form 7 of all licensed experiments performed by him/her during the preceding twelve months. Form 7 and Annex to Form 7 can also be filled out electronically and submitted online. Licensees are advised to read the Explanatory Notes and Samples of Completed Forms before filling in Form 6 and Form 7.

Enquiries

For enquiries, please contact us at:

Tel:	2961 8975
Fax:	2127 7329
E-mail:	ro_al@dh.gov.hk