OneKind Vice-President David Martin MEP gives his own personal welcome to this week’s ban on the sale of animal tested cosmetics.
This is something I have been working for since the day I left Advocates for Animals (now OneKind) to take up my role as an elected representative of the people of Edinburgh and the Lothians in Strasbourg. Hurrah!
Monday, 11 March 2013 was a welcome day, marking the date from which there is a complete ban in the European Union for the selling of cosmetic products and ingredients that have been newly tested on animals.
I am delighted that there is now no place for any animal tested cosmetic product in the Europe Union. This is a goal we in the Eurogroup for Animals (of which OneKind is a member), the Humane Society International and many other animal welfare campaigning groups have long been striving for.
We have had a long journey to get to this point. Animal testing of finished cosmetic products in the EU has been prohibited since 2004 and of cosmetic ingredients since March 2009, but loopholes have remained in place after intensive lobbying by the cosmetics industry.
The ban is not retrospective, so old animal-tested products will not be banned – and the most complex tests were exempted from the ban right up to this Monday. This has meant that animal testing could be carried on outside the Union with the results used for the safety assessment in the Union. Despite being cruel and widely-condemned, animal testing was still being used on products available to EU consumers.
Between 2007 and 2011 the Commission made about 238 million euros available for research into alternative methods. Although full replacement of animal testing by alternative methods is not yet possible the search for alternative methods, incentivised by Monday’s decision, will continue.
Monday 11 March marks a line in the sand. After this date, the sale of cosmetic products containing ingredients that have been newly animal-tested is banned in the EU, no matter where in the world that testing may have taken place.
Many of my constituents, along with animal welfare groups have been extremely concerned that the Commission might extend the deadline. I have been questioning the Commission on a regular basis to make sure this was not going to be the case and I am very happy that it was not extended.
I hope this will be an incentive for companies world-wide to stop testing their cosmetic products on animals and to encourage other countries to also change their laws and regulations.
While it is important that cosmetic products are safe for human use, it should not be at the expense of animal welfare.