Regulatory bodies hold alternative method workshop in bid to follow the West

Organisers include the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (GDCIQ), the Chemical Inspection and Regulation Service (CIRS) and the Institute of In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), all bodies who have played an instrumental part to introduce and educate industry professionals on animal testing alternatives in China.

Covering a variety of topics​

The workshop set to be held on the 19th March in Guangzhou, will address everything from the technical interpretation of the EU's new cosmetic products regulations and how to comply with them, the development of alternative methods in China, an introduction to alternatives to animal testing in USA, cosmetics toxicology and efficacy testing, basic research and medicine development of alternative methods, and the application of alternative methods in EU and China.

On top of a brief introduction of three days of laboratory training, presenters at the workshop are to include representitives from the regulatory bodies as well as Alice Cai of L'Oreal China, Dr. Weiping Mei, Head of R&D China at Beiersdorf, and Zhiying Huang the head of animal testing centre at Su Yat-sin   University.

If you would like to attend or get more information on this event, please see here.​

The West helping the AP region in the area of alternatives​

Although the IIVS is a US based institute, it has worked closely with Chinese officials since 2006 to introduce alternatives in cosmetics, sending experts to the region up to nine times a year in an effort to bring labs up to speed on the methods.

In November of 2011, a breakthrough came when Chinese officials held a conference with the IIVS team and a number of experts to discuss how to modify its alternative Assay and fit it in to what’s been done in the cosmetics industry.

On discussing how the West adapted to animal testing alternatives years ago, Dr. Jones of the IIVS tells CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com that the Chinese cosmetic market has really only matured in the last ten or fifteen years.

“They just need the education and the opportunity to understand the methods. I think they may surprise us on how quickly they accept these methods – who knows, they may be as quick if not quicker than the West​.”