The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), or the Ethic Committee (EC), or the Animal Welfare Body (ARB), is a self-regulating oversight body for animal care and use programs, and it is established to meet the needs of animal research communities and to comply with regulatory requirements. Its authority, responsibilities, and unique importance in the animal care and use, are originated from and re-assured by relevant legislation and regulations. The origins and the current status of the IACUC in China, Europe and USA are reviewed in this paper. The correlation between the IACUC and the regulations, and a comparison between China and western countries, are shown. The future trends in China are briefly discussed.

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee  /  laboratory animal  /  ethic of laboratory animal