EU animal testing ban in place, now calls for NZ and the rest to follow suit

By Andrew MCDOUGALL

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Animal testing European union

Humane Society International, Lush and SAFE are calling on the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, New Zealand, and other organizations, to ban animal testing in cosmetics for good.

The animal rights group, the cosmetics company and the campaign group wrote an open letter to organisations asking for them to follow the example set in Europe, where the full ban will come into play on March 11, 2013.

In the open letter to trade association personnel in New Zealand, as well as in Australia, India, Brazil, Russia, Korea, Japan, Canada and the United States, Lush and HSI call on animal testing companies across the world to choose the EU sales ban as the moment to go cruelty-free.

Turning point

“The world’s largest cosmetics market, the European Union, which has already banned cruel animal testing of cosmetics within its own boarders, will also close its doors to the sale of cosmetics tested on animals overseas,”​ reads the letter.

“Surely this must signal a turning point for the beauty industry worldwide to finally kick its animal testing habit and commit to going cruelty-free?”

The collaboration argues that animal toxicity tests represent outdated science and that the future of safety testing lies with modern, human-biology-based methods; eradicating the scientific excuse for animal testing.

They argue that there are also thousands of existing cosmetic ingredients that have long been established as safe for use meaning they don’t require any new testing.

Whilst safety is still of the utmost importance for the cosmetics industry, HSI and Lush argues that with Europe adopting the ban, there is no need for the rest of the world to have the option in place for animal testing.

“As we celebrate the EU going ‘cruelty-free’, we urge all those companies still testing cosmetics on animals in the United States, China, Brazil, India, Canada, South Korea, Russia and beyond: … stop the suffering,”​ concludes the letter.

Ban needed in NZ

In New Zealand whilst there is no cosmetics animal testing currently licensed, there is no legal ban preventing animal testing in the future, and products tested on animals overseas are still sold in shops throughout the country.

HSI, like other animal rights organizations, has led its campaign to see the EU sales ban enforced, and in April last year launched its global Be Cruelty-Free campaign to end cosmetics animal testing worldwide.

The New Zealand arm of the campaign is being run in partnership with SAFE, which has campaigned against animal testing for over 80 years and in 2011 launched SAFEShopper, the New Zealand guide to cosmetics not tested on animals.

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