The global panorama of “cruelty-free cosmetics”
The issue of animal testing in the cosmetics industry has a polarizing background. Despite them, it seems that fate is increasingly true. In the last few days, we have seen a resurgence of the subject, which never stops being hot topic.
It is necessary to highlight the antecedents that place the European Union as the first group of countries in the world to ban cosmetics tested on animals. Animal testing has been prohibited in Europe since 2004 for cosmetic products and since 2009 for cosmetics ingredients.
Global situation
Since then, and until today, progress has been made in long steps towards a global ban on animal testing on cosmetic products.
In 2018, the EU Parliament called for a global ban on testing cosmetics on animals by 2023. Although there is still much to be done, the list of countries with animal testing bans for cosmetics continues to grow.
The European Union ban was joined by Israel, Turkey, India, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Guatemala.
In Latin America, the first step has been taken by Colombia, becoming the first country in the region to ban animal testing.
Likewise, Australia recently joined the list of countries that have banned animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients.
In the United States and in Brazil they follow different rhythms in the prohibitions according to the state. And other countries follow this process as well.
It is worth noting the case of China, which with a known history of mandatory animal testing, is taking important steps towards a future “cruelty-free”. One of the most relevant is the fact that general cosmetic products can avoid testing on animals.
Updates in Europe
In Europe, despite the ban on animal testing, the European Commission (EC) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) are part of a long-standing conflict. Broadly speaking, this conflict is based on the fact that there is no explicit prohibition on animal testing in REACH.
Currently, the European Court has ruled that ECHA has a duty to consider alternative methods and that animal testing should be done as a last resort.
Sources:
https://www.stanpa.com/en/we-care/we-are-concerned-the-same-issue-as-you/no-animal-testing/
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/cosmetics/animal-testing/
https://cosmeticsinmind.com/experimentacion-animales-esta-pasando-europa/#.YI7w07UzY2w
