India bans import of animal tested cosmetics

The ban comes in the form of Rule 135-B that states, “Prohibition of import of cosmetics tested on animals” from November 13.

It means that India joined the EU and Israel in implementing such full bans that means “no cosmetic that has been tested on animals after the commencement of Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014 shall be imported into the country.”​

Decision​

The India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare made its decision public in The Gazette of India​ and it has been welcomed by a number of animal rights groups.

“With today’s historic ban on the import of newly animal-tested cosmetics, India has made history for animals in South Asia,”​ says Alokparna Sengupta, Humane Society International/India’s #BeCrueltyFree campaigns manager.

“We feel confident that if this vision is applied to other areas of product testing, this can be a defining moment in the modernization of India’s safety science, with potentially hundreds of thousands more animals spared pain and suffering.”​

Earlier this year #BeCrueltyFree campaigners in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States have all celebrated the introduction of bills proposing national cosmetic animal test bans.

China has also removed mandatory animal testing for many domestically-produced cosmetics.

“India has shown outstanding leadership by so swiftly advancing first a ban on cosmetics animal testing and now a ban on animal-tested cosmetics imported from overseas,”​ comments Gauri Maulekhi, Trustee, People for Animals, a #BeCrueltyFree India partner.