'Worldwide animal testing ban should ensure all our cosmetics are cruelty-free'

21 May 2023 , 19:01

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Tighter rules are needed banning worldwide animal testing to ensure suffering doesn't enter our supply chain (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

While all eyes were on the ­Coronation, a 25-year ban on animal testing for make-up ­was lifted – ­flying under the radar.

The Government had already quietly changed the policy to align with EU rules, and that decision was backed earlier this month by a high court ruling.

Animal testing for make-up or its ingredients was completely banned in the UK in 1998.

It has only been allowed if the benefits gained from the research outweighed any animal suffering, for example for medicines.

But in 2020, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), an EU agency that oversees chemical
regulation, ruled that ­companies needed to test some ­ingredients used in cosmetics to ensure they were safe for the workers ­manufacturing them.

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During the High Court case, it was revealed that, since 2019, the ­Government had been issuing licences for animal testing of cosmetic ingredients in line with EU rules, which it retained, despite leaving the EU in 2020.

It is not known how many such licences were issued or to whom.

Last week, following outrage on the U-turn, Home Secretary Suella Braverman backed down and said the Government has now banned the issuing of licences for animal testing of chemicals for cosmetics products.

But what is unclear is whether products that have been tested on animals abroad are also banned – part of the original law – or if they are now allowed to be imported here.

The Body Shop started the campaign to end animal testing nearly 35 years ago, and it is now working alongside Cruelty Free International.

Their joint Forever Against Animal Testing campaign is calling for a ­worldwide ban on animal tested cosmetics – as 80% of countries currently have no laws to this effect.

Until that happens, it is vital this law is completely reinstated here, so shoppers can be safe in the knowledge no animals are suffering for the make-up products on our shelves.

Nada Farhoud