WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Friday it has established a new oversight organ to ensure the animals' safety and well-being in animal testing.

It came after the agency put on hold a study that causes four deaths of squirrel monkeys and initiated an investigation last year.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement on the investigation results that the study was "not consistent with the agency's high animal welfare standards."

Gottlieb said FDA established a new Animal Welfare Council to provide "centralized oversight of all animal research activities and facilities."

The research, conducted by the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) under FDA, was working with squirrel monkeys to investigate the role of exposure to various levels of nicotine on the onset of addiction in adolescence and young adults.

Gottlieb said he has ordered a third-party to investigate the FDA's animal research programs, starting with those conducted at NCTR, in a bid to addressing "any remaining or future issues for the entire animal program."