The Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science (JALAS, the president was Dr. Shigeru Sugano) and the Japanese Congress of Laboratory Animal Science and Technology 2001 (the president was Dr. Kazuyoshi Maejima) organized a symposium entitled "Laboratory Animal Science in Asian Countries -Present and Future" in the Congress held at Yokohama, Japan on May 9, 2001. The aim of this symposium was to exchange information and to develop good relationship between the associations of laboratory animal science in Asian countries or regions. The delegates from six associations and societies of China, Japan, Korea, Philippine, Taiwan and Thai participated to the symposium. After the symposium, they discussed about establishing the Asian Federation of Laboratory Animal Science.

All the delegates agreed to the proposal that the Federation of Asian Laboratory Animal Science Associations/Societies (FALASA) be organized in order to improve the quality of laboratory animal science in Asia. Each delegate will discuss the foundation of FALASA at each Association/Society back home.

- Scientists and academic journals should be exchanged among the member Associations/Societies of FALASA. In addition, “Asian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science” should be published.

- The plan for establishing FALASA should be announced to other countries that were absent from JCLAST2001, e.g., India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and so forth.

The international award by Asian fund of JALAS played an important role in unite the associations or societies of LAS in Asia.

Asian fund was founded as a memory of 50th anniversary of the founding of JALAS on May 11, 2001. And JALAS formally made a request of a candidate for awardee to Dr. Sang-Seop Han, the President of Korean Association for Laboratory Animal Science (KALAS) at the ceremony of 50th anniversary of the founding of JALAS on December 1, 2001.

The first award ceremony was held at the 49th annual meeting of JALAS in Nagoya on May 23, 2002, and five young researchers from five countries and regions were gave the international award.

JALAS President Shigeru Sugano and Dr. Kasai visited Seoul, Korea on October 5, 2002 and discussed establishment of AFLAS with President Sang-Seop Han and the board member of Korean Association for Laboratory Animal Science. JALAS made a plan to have a meeting for founding the AFLAS on March 2003, and sent a draft of the regulation of the AFLAS such as a statute and a by-law (ver.1) on January 7, 2003. However, both the meeting for AFLAS and the second award ceremony of the international award were postponed because of SARS prevalence in Asia.

At last the first council meeting for establishment of Asian federation was held in Tokyo, Japan on November 29, 2003. Six associations or societies which gathered to Tokyo approved establishing the federation and named it “the Asian Federation of Laboratory Animal Science Associations (AFLAS)” . The STATUTE and BY-LAWS of AFLAS were also established. As the first president, Dr. Shigeru Sugano, the president of JALAS, was elected. The members confirmed that the First Congress of AFLAS would be held in Nagasaki, Japan on May 22, 2004, and that the Second Congress of AFLAS in 2006 would be planned in Korea and prepared by KALAS as the next organizer.