An update to include the Republic of Korea in the International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods (ICATM) agreement was signed at the SOT meeting in Washington, DC in early March. The ICATM, originally signed in April 2009, has now been endorsed by national validation organizations of the United States, European Union, Canada, Japan, and Korea.
The NICEATM-ICCVAM website contains additional information, and explains that “ICATM represents an effort to promote international cooperation that should permit more rapid acceptance of new safety testing methods for chemicals and products. New testing methods can better protect public health and also reduce the number of animals needed for safety testing” (
http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/about/icatm.htm).
An article on this topic is also available in the current issue of Environmental Factor:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2011/april/science-agreement/index.cfm
