ANIMAL TESTING
N
o part of any cosmetic product sold in the European Union has been tested on an animal
anywhere in the world to meet the needs of the EU Cosmetic Products Regulation (1223/2009) since 2013, which was when the marketing ban came into force following 2009’s testing ban. However, just because a new cosmetic component has not been near an animal to satisfy the requirements of the Cosmetics Regulation doesn’t necessarily mean it’s free from animal testing.
Animal tests on cosmetic ingredients (even those used only in cosmetics) may still be requested by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to meet the needs of the EU chemicals regulation REACH: full name the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals regulation.
REACH requires specific human and environmental safety data to be included as part of the registration package, which may involve the collection of new data using animal tests.
While this interface between the Cosmetics Regulation and REACH was clarified way back in 2014 by the European Commission and the ECHA, it has made headlines recently due to a high-profile case last year involving the supplier Symrise, which lost an appeal against the ECHA’s decision on two of its cosmetic-use only ingredients. Moreover, in the choppy wake of Brexit, there has also been concern among cosmetics companies and from consumers that the UK’s new REACH system – called UK REACH – might similarly mandate such tests. This trepidation followed the publication of a letter by animal protection organisation Cruelty Free
International (CFI), sent from the UK Home Office in early August 2021, in which it admitted that it will allow animal testing on cosmetic-use only ingredients: a volte-face on the UK government’s position for over two decades.
As such, well-known European and British beauty brands have been raising their voices on the subject and rallying consumers on both sides of the channel to petition to protect the integrity of animal bans. Here is Cosmetics Business’ edit of who’s been doing what and when:
Unilever, Avon, Boots, Waitrose & the Co-op: Following the revelation that the Home Office plans to adopt an EU-style approach to balancing the requirements of the UK Cosmetic Regulation and UK REACH, more than 75 companies, which included FMCG and beauty giant Unilever, beauty brand
ANIMAL ACTIVISTS
Which beauty brands are campaigning to
‘protect the ban’? From letters to government to eye-catching activist murals, beauty’s biggest names are mobilising against a perceived threat to the integrity of Europe’s animal testing bans. But who’s doing what?
cosmeticsbusiness.com
November 2021 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
