The need for the establishment of a Brazilian Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (BraCVAM).

Brazil has recently approved legislation for regulating experimental animal use. On the other hand, it is a requirement that the safety of many products on the market is controlled on the basis of animal testing. Some groups at official laboratories, universities and industries are studying alternative methods, but there is no approved mechanism for funding collaborative studies, nor is there an institution responsible for coordinating these studies. These shortcomings obstruct the development of these assays in Brazil. The creation of a Brazilian Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (BraCVAM) would facilitate the development and validation of tests in all the institutions working on alternative methods in Brazil, and could also offer support to other Latin American countries. 2008 FRAME.