To carry out an animal experiment, you need a project licence from us. The Animal Welfare Body (AWB) and the Animal Experiments Committee (DEC) are also involved in this process. You must submit your application with a number of required documents. We evaluate your application together with the DEC. Afterwards, you will receive a decision from us. A fee is charged for applying for a licence.
Application via your AWB
Before applying for a project license with us, you must contact the AWB affiliated with your institution. You submit all the necessary documents for your application to the AWB. They will notify you if they approve your application. Additionally, you need an establishment licence from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).
Ethical evaluation by the DEC
Once you have the Animal Welfare Body’s approval, you can send us your application and all the required documents. We will send you a confirmation of receipt and forward the application to the DEC. The DEC is asked to perform an ethical evaluation. Together with the DEC, we will process your application within 40 working days. Read more about the process.
The DEC may ask you to provide more information, clarify certain details or amend your application. The processing period is paused until this stage is complete. The DEC then sends us its advice, together with any amended documents you have provided.
CCD evaluation
Once we receive the DEC’s advice, we use this to conduct our evaluation. We may request additional clarification or information from you. Any modifications you make will be considered in our final decision. We send you a letter informing you of our decision. We may impose certain conditions on your project licence, such as a retrospective assessment.
Application fees
You are required to pay a fee when submitting an application for a project licence. More about the costs.
Process for licence applications
The infographic gives a visual representation of the five-step process for licence applications.
The ‘Applying for your licence’ infographic gives a visual representation of the five-step process for licence applications to the Central Authority for Scientific Procedures on Animals (CCD).
Step 1: You submit your application to the CCD.
First, you contact your establishment’s Animal Welfare Body. They must approve your application, before you can finalise it.
You send us your completed application. The processing period begins as soon as we receive all your documents.
Step 2: We send your application to the DEC
We forward the application documents to the DEC
Step 3: The DEC performs an ethical evaluation
They share their advice with us within 20 working days. If anything is unclear, the DEC will ask you for more information.
The DEC sends its advice to us, together with the latest version of the application.
Step 4: We evaluate your application
We do this within 20 working days. If anything is unclear, we may ask you or the DEC for more information or clarification.
We discuss your application at one of our meetings, which take place once every three weeks.
Step 5: You receive our decision. We are authorised to issue the following decisions:
We approve your application. This means you are permitted to conduct your research. We may impose certain conditions.
We partially approve your application. This means you are allowed to conduct part of your research.
We reject your application. This means you are not permitted to conduct your research.
We intend to reject your application. This means you are (temporarily) not allowed to conduct your research. You will be given the opportunity to respond. We will then ask the DEC for an additional advice, which we will take into account in our final decision.
Submitting your application
You apply using our online form in Mijn RVO (website in Dutch). You will need to include three types of documents along with your application (Project Proposal, Appendix Description animal procedures, non-technical summary). For each animal species, you need to attach a separate appendix. You can also authorise someone else (website in Dutch) to manage or monitor your matters concerning the application on your behalf.
Please note: you will receive a confirmation of receipt from RVO. If you have any questions about how to complete the form, or about the application itself, please contact us. We will be happy to help.
Is your licence application urgent? For example, there may be an unexpected or exceptional situation that presents severe risks to public health, society or the environment. We may be able to process your licence application as an urgent application. Always contact us by telephone in these situations.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can apply for a project licence using our digital form on Mijn RVO (website in Dutch). On that page, select ‘Vergunning > Aanvragen/wijzigen’. Information about the required documents can be found on this page.
You can view your applications through our digital form on Mijn RVO (website in Dutch). Choose ‘Aanvraag > Bekijken’, then select the option ‘Dossier inzien’ within the form.
To submit a notification or amendment, go to our digital form on Mijn RVO (website in Dutch). Select ‘Vergunning > Aanvragen/wijzigen’. Once logged in, choose the option ‘Wijziging, melding of beoordeling achteraf indienen’. More information is available on our page Amending a licence.
You can arrange your registration ateherkenning.nl. Please note that this may take one to five working days. Additional information is also available on the RVO page Hulp bij inloggen.
The required level of assurance depends on the procedure. For procedures related to a project licence for animal procedures, you need at least eHerkenning level 2+ and authorisation for RVO services at level 2+.
Would you like to authorise someone on behalf of a company or organisation? This can only be done by an authorisation manager or a person authorised to sign. An authorisation manager can only be appointed once approval has been given by an authorised signatory.
No, you cannot log in using a general email address via eHerkenning. Authorisation through eHerkenning must be linked to a personal (work) email address.
Yes, multiple authorised representatives may submit a project licence application on behalf of the establishment.
