VICTORY: Taiwan Adopts World’s Toughest Laboratory Regulations After PETA Push
Update (August 12, 2026): VICTORY! After hearing from PETA and over 21,000 supporters, Taiwan adopted some of the world’s strongest enforcement measures for laboratories that experiment on animals, allowing authorities to halt approvals for new experiments at facilities that fail animal welfare inspections until violations are corrected.
Under the new rules, laboratories that fail those inspections will face increased scrutiny from authorities, and approvals for new experiments will stop until the problems are corrected. Facilities that continue to fall short during subsequent inspections could also see their chances of receiving government grants drop sharply.
This is a major victory for animals. Laboratories now face real consequences for failing animal welfare inspections, creating a stronger incentive to address violations. PETA, along with other animal protection groups, had urged Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture to adopt and enforce these stronger protections for animals used in experiments. PETA also submitted formal comments supporting the rule changes and encouraging the government to hold laboratories accountable for animal welfare violations.
Celebrate this victory with us, and then please urge Taiwan companies to stop killing animals in pointless experiments for dubious marketing claims:
Original post:
After ongoing talks with PETA and other animal protection groups, the Taiwan government has proposed rule changes that, if enacted, would impose the world’s toughest restrictions to enforce care standards for animals used in experiments, bringing new penalties for institutions that do not comply.
The proposed rule changes would penalize institutions that don’t adhere to care standards for animals in laboratories and require an immediate pause on approving any new experiments at facilities that fail inspections until they fix the problems, putting Taiwan on the vanguard of institutional animal care enforcement.
The proposals directly affect Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, panels that review and approve experiments on animals. The committees are the last line of defense for animals in laboratories, designed to ensure that their treatment adheres to at least the minimum standards established by law.
Under the new rule, these committees must withhold approval of any animal use applications when institutions do not comply with relevant animal welfare regulations and receive poor inspection grades. If the committees don’t fulfill their duties, the new rule also states that this would increase inspections by authorities and jeopardize the institutions’ chances at receiving governmental funding.
When the institutions don’t comply with the rules and animal care committees fail, animals often experience prolonged suffering, untreated injuries or illness, repeated procedures without adequate justification, and continued use even at institutions already cited for substandard conditions. Taiwan’s new rules aim to change that, encouraging compassion and penalizing cruelty to animals.
A 60-day public comment period is underway, ending June 13.
PETA sent a letter to Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture urging it to finalize and enforce these compassionate rule changes.
