Mar. 11, 2013 (TSR) – After 23 years of effort, a BAN on testing cosmetic products on animals comes into force in all 27-nation bloc of the European Union today making them the world’s largest cruelty-free market.

The EU ban will make it illegal, from 11 March 2013, all personal care products, from makeup, skin care products and other products, from high-end to drugstore brands, to market cosmetics within the European Union if the final product or any of its ingredients have been animal-tested anywhere in the world after 11 March 2013. Everything will now be subject to the rules. It is therefore prohibits the sale of newly animal-tested cosmetics and requires companies to use existing approved ingredients in their products.

Animal experiments carried out to test cosmetics or their ingredients have been outlawed in the EU since 2009. However, it was never enforced as companies have still been free to sell products with a history of animal testing conducted outside Europe. This is now forbidden under the new directive.

Cruelty-free cosmetics and ingredients are those which have not been subject to new animal testing after a specified date because they are already in safe use.

According to the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAU), the credit of making this all happen was due to the work of Tonio Borg, the new European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy.

Giving Credit to whom credit is due: The implementation of Europe-wide banning of all animal tested cosmetic products was due to the work of Tonio Borg, the new European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy. Photo: ECEAE Chief Executive Michelle Thew and the new European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Tonio Borg,  (thesantosrepublic.com)
Giving Credit to whom credit is due: The implementation of Europe-wide banning of all animal tested cosmetic products was due to the work of Tonio Borg, the new European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy.
Photo: ECEAE Chief Executive Michelle Thew and the new European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Tonio Borg,
(thesantosrepublic.com)

“The former European Commissioner in charge of the EU’s cosmetics regulations had been considering recommendations to delay or weaken the ban, allowing the cosmetics industry to continue testing cosmetic products and ingredients on animals until they could find alternative methods,” details the ECEAU, but it went through, thanks to Borg’s urging.

Cosmetics will still be tested for safety by the companies that make them, using agreed-upon methods of non-animal testing. The ECEAE’s next goal is to end the use of animals in scientific experiments. It is important to note that 12 million animals a year are used in Europe for this purpose.
The complete ban on trade and testing regards only new products and ingredients. Older products tested on animals will not be taken off the market.

USA gives no protection to animals

The American Humane Society gives an excellent FAQ (Frequent Asked Questions) page on animal testing in the United States to give  snapshot:

“Although they are not required by law, several tests are commonly performed by exposing mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and other animals to cosmetics ingredients. This can include:
  • skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits without any pain relief
  • repeated force-feeding studies lasting weeks or months to look for signs of general illness or specific health hazards such as cancer or birth defects
  • widely condemned “lethal dose” tests, in which animals are forced to swallow large amounts of a test chemical to determine the dose that causes death.
“At the end of a test the animals are killed, normally by asphyxiation, neck-breaking or decapitation. Pain relief is not provided. In the United States, a large percentage of the animals used in such testing (such as laboratory-bred rats and mice) are not counted in official statistics and receive no protection under the Animal Welfare Act.”
NOTE: The BAN kicks in on July 11.

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