Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (2015)

The Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (PHS Policy), is a set of standards administered by the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) that require institutions to establish and maintain proper measures to ensure the appropriate care and use of all vertebrate animals involved in research, research training, and biological testing activities conducted or supported by the U.S. Federal Government. The PHS Policy is intended to implement and supplement the "U.S. Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training" developed by the Interagency Research Animal Committee.

The Policy is applicable to all PHS-conducted or supported activities involving animals, whether the activities are performed at a PHS agency, an awardee institution, or any other institution and conducted in the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States. OLAW, a division of the National Institues of Health (NIH), is responsible for the general administration and coordination of the PHS Policy, and serves as the regulating body for all [animal] activities funded by the U.S. Federal Government, including the NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF).