C. Production of Primates in the United States 
A continuing stable supply of nonhuman primates is necessary for the 
conduct of essential health activities. Foreign supply sources have 
proven to be unstable and sometimes discontinuous. Current levels of 
domestic primate production are insufficient; additional production 
is necessary to meet essent'ial needs. 
It is recommended that the current domestic primate production 
be sufficiently expanded to ensure a continuous, stable, and 
long-term supply of primates required by essential health 
activities. 
Only through domestic primate production can the continuation of 
essential health activities be ensured, in that: 
* it provides the greatest degree of stability and accessibility; 
* it provides a means to assure continuation of a threatened 
resource; 
* it reduces dependency on a single or limited number of supply 
sources; 
* it contributes to international primate conservation; 
* it is the only mechanism that can supply primates for 
special needs, such as intrauterine fetal research; 
* it develops the necessary technology and experience in 
primate production needed for the future; and 
* it provides for the selective breeding of biomedically 
defined animals of selected genetic backgrounds required for 
certain research. 
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