TESTING ANIMAL
Avon and British retailers Boots, Waitrose and the Co-op, put pressure on the UK government, according to a 19 August release from CFI. In a letter, industry figures urged the government “to uphold its 1998 position as intended, with no new tests on animals allowed”, adding that the UK would be pursuing a “retrograde approach” while failing “to acknowledge the amazing advances in science and technology”.
The letter from companies involved in the cosmetics industry to the Home Secretary, read: “The EU Cosmetics Regulation animal testing and marketing bans have since been used as the gold standard around the world – setting the precedent for cosmetics products and ingredients to be used safely without subjecting animals to cruel and unnecessary tests.
“These bans were dealt a devastating blow following a series of regulatory decisions made by the ECHA, with support from the European Commission and ECHA’s own Board of Appeal. “ECHA is now requiring some widely used cosmetics ingredients (and ingredients used in many other types of consumer products) to be tested on hundreds of thousands of animals under the guise of the REACH regulation. “We have spoken out to say that REACH must not be used to circumvent the Cosmetics Regulation and render the cosmetics testing and marketing bans meaningless.
“It would now appear that the UK is choosing to follow this retrograde approach, including for ingredients used solely in cosmetics and with a history of safe use and manufacture.
“This decision fails to acknowledge the amazing advances in science and technology since 1998 and the fact that industry now has a very different safety science ‘toolbox’ of non-animal methodologies with which to assess product safety to fully comply with the UK and EU bans on animal testing. “It also fails to acknowledge the overwhelming support of the British public for cruelty-free cosmetics which has been demonstrated time and again. “We had hoped that the UK – with its proud track record in animal protection and research & innovation, and its substantial cruelty-free cosmetics industry – would take an approach based on science not process.
52 November 2021
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We would call for the UK to use its new REACH system to develop a progressive animal-free approach
“We would call for the UK to use its new REACH system to develop a progressive animal-free approach to further protect human health and our environment. We are therefore dismayed that the Home Office has confirmed that it will be issuing guidelines imminently to include – based on the ECHA Board of Appeal decisions in the case of the UV filters from Symrise – animal testing even for sole-use cosmetics ingredients.”
The Body Shop & Dove: At the end of August, the Natura & Co-owned ethical veteran announced that it was partnering with Unilever’s Dove brand and global animal protection groups to call on the EU to protect the ban of animal testing in cosmetics. The bigwigs joined forces with PETA, Cruelty Free Europe, HSI, Eurogroup for Animals and the ECEAE to use their scale to launch a European Citizens’ Initiative to ‘Save cruelty free cosmetics’ by mobilising citizens across the EU and UK.
Demands included that the European Commission protects and strengthens the cosmetics animal testing ban; initiates legislative change to achieve consumer, worker and environmental protection for all cosmetics ingredients without new tests with animals for any purpose at any time; transforms the EU chemicals regulation to ensure human health and the environment are protected by managing chemicals without the addition of new animal testing requirements; and modernises regulatory science in the EU with a commitment, before the end of its current term of office, to a legislative
proposal plotting a road map to phase out all animal testing in the EU. To this end, The Body Shop and Dove erected murals across major cities in Europe to encourage people to sign an European Citizens Initiative – a mechanism for EU Citizens to help shape the EU by calling on the European Commission to propose new laws.
They teamed up with Netherlands- based artist and activist Nina Valkhoff to create a striking artwork displayed via a mural in the centre of Paris, France, as well as being illuminated across key landmarks in Berlin, Madrid and Milan in an effort to inspire consumers to take action against animal testing. The initiative aims to collect 1 million signatures by 31 August 2022 and – at time of writing – the number of signatories currently sits at just under 185,000. Finally, in the UK, UK citizens can sign CFI’s ‘Plan to phase out animal experiments’ petition, which runs until 7 January 2022. And The Body Shop and Dove are encouraging beauty users to deploy their social channels to recruit their friends and followers to do the same.
Other Unilever labels: Following Dove’s team-up with The Body Shop, as detailed above, Unilever’s other PETA- approved brands including TRESemmé, Simple and St.Ives, added their voices to the campaign in an announcement of 7 September. The company observed that, for more than 40 years, Unilever scientists have been pioneering non-animal approaches to assess product safety including computer modelling and cell culture-based experiments, and that the company was committed to helping to bring an end to animal testing for consumer products and their ingredients, generally. Its work to accelerate the use and regulatory acceptance of alternatives to animal testing means Unilever is one of just five companies listed by PETA as a ‘company working for regulatory change’, and has a growing list of PETA-approved brands taking action. Earlier in 2021, Unilever launched its Positive Beauty vision, aiming “to do more good, not just less harm, for people and the planet”. As part of its commitments, Unilever stepped up its efforts to support calls for a global ban on animal testing for cosmetics by 2023 – calls that were first made by the European Parliament in 2018
cosmeticsbusiness.com
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