Rationale
TSAR (EURL ECVAM Tracking System for Alternative methods towards Regulatory acceptance)indicates the stages methods have reached in terms of acceptance as a recognised test method for use in various sectors together with a summary description. Where available, TSAR also includes relevant records and documents associated with a method linked to the different steps of the entire process: submission, validation, peer-review, recommendations and regulatory acceptance including international standards represented in the tracking system.
TSAR was developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre's EU Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EURL ECVAM) to disseminate information on methods being considered by member and observer organisations of the International Cooperation on Alternative Testing Methods (ICATM) representing the EU, Canada, USA, Republic of Korea, Brazil, China and Japan. In particular, the ICATM includes the following member organisations: EURL ECVAM (EU), Health Canada (CA), ICCVAM/NICEATM (US), JaCVAM (JP) and KoCVAM (KR). Other governmental institutions from Brazil, Singapore, China and Taiwan have been participating in ICATM initiatives on an ad hoc basis.
Access Modus
The TSAR homepage provides access to a group of featured test methods and, on the main toolbar, a link to the Test Methods Tracking page, where all the methods available through TSAR can by searched by using various search criteria. By default all Test Methods are displayed according to the last update. A box for each test method shows some basic information. The horizontal bar gives a quick overview of the process to approval, from submission, validation, peer review, and issuing of recommendations, to regulatory acceptance: green labels indicate finalised steps; blue labels indicate on-going steps, grey labels are shown when a corresponding step hasn't started yet or is not applicable for the method and a black label indicates that a method did not progress further. By selecting the method name access is provided to its individual method page and track its progress in detail.
Release Information
This first release of the revised TSAR includes the majority of methods submitted to the EURL ECVAM back until 2008. The remaining methods will progressively be made available for public access together with those from all ICATM partners.
For the methods where no further action has been taken over the past five years and/or contact with the submitter was lost, the following information is shown: on hold-pending further information.