The last in a series of bans to end animal testing in the EU comes into effect today.
Dr Chris Flower, Former Director-General of the CTPA, said:
“The primary objective of the cosmetics industry has always been safe, innovative cosmetics without the need for testing on animals. In the UK no animal testing has taken place on cosmetic products since 1997 when our industry signalled its commitment to this objective by volunteering to end this practice.
“For more than twenty years, our scientists have worked diligently to develop scientifically valid alternatives to animal tests to ensure safety. Today, our industry is the most successful sector globally in developing such validated alternatives. Our endeavours to date have benefitted animal welfare far beyond the cosmetics industry, since the same alternative tests are used by other sectors too.
“The final marketing deadline, which comes into effect across Europe today and applies to imported as well as European cosmetic products, is the final step in a series of actions that began with the Europe-wide ban on the testing of cosmetic products on animals in September 2004. We are wholly committed to meeting these requirements, and to continuing to develop alternatives to animal testing that will benefit both our industry and wider sectors.
“It is our hope that today’s deadline will provide the impetus for even greater collaboration between our industry’s scientists, regulators and the wider scientific community. This will be vital to address those challenging areas where non-animal tests are not yet available to assure safety. Since we will not compromise on safety, there will be innovations that will not be available to European consumers first in future. We welcome the European Commission’s announcement that it will continue to support such research because by working together, we can expedite the search for animal-free alternatives, speed up the regulatory process for validating these and share our animal-free safety practices with authorities worldwide.”
