Taiwan set to be first 'cruelty free' market in South East Asia

The bill follows HSI's success last month in New Zealand where a ban was implemented, and already has the support of 19 legislators and, if passed, will make Taiwan the first country in East Asia to '#BeCrueltyFree'.

Legislator Wang YuMin and the #BeCrueltyFree campaign held a press conference last week, where alongside Taiwan SPCA and Taipei Rabbit Society Association, they called upon the government to act quickly in passing the bill.

In line with international trends, legislator Wang is proposing amendments to Taiwan’s Control for Cosmetic Hygiene Act, which would ban cosmetic animal testing as well as the sale of cosmetics that have been newly tested on animals abroad following a three year grace period, regardless of the current state of alternative tests.

An increasing number of countries around the world have banned the use of animals in cosmetics testing, including the European Union, Norway, Israel, India and New Zealand.

The bill will be on par with EU standards​

The number of countries that have banned or are in the process of banning cosmetics animals testing is on the rise, and with the global cosmetics market forecast to reach 265 billion USD by 2017, Taiwan’s international competitiveness will only increase once the legislation has passed. 

This puts Taiwan’s bill on a par with the dual test/sales ban of the European Union, and exceeds the less ambitious bill launched last month in South Korea.

“In 2009 the EU, the world’s largest cosmetics market, banned cosmetics animal testing, and in 2013 banned the sale of cosmetics that have been tested on animals," ​says Legislator Wang YuMin.​

“We urge the Taiwanese government to act quickly and pass this crucial legislation to prevent any more animals from suffering needlessly in cosmetics testing. Let’s move forward and make Taiwan the first East Asian country to #BeCrueltyFree,”​  adds Taiwan SPCA & #BeCrueltyFree Taiwan campaign coordinator Joy Liou.