After a long and hard battle with the cosmetics industry, the European Union has announced a ban on all cosmetics that include ingredients tested on animals.
The prior ban that was instated in 2004 and currently remains in place, said that the testing of finished cosmetic products on animals would be a practice banned in the E.U., but the updated version takes it a step further, banning any cosmetics that use ingredients tested on animals.
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Yes, it is that serious.
As reported by the New York Times:
The ban, which will take effect immediately, “gives an important signal on the value that Europe attaches to animal welfare,” Tonio Borg, the E.U. commissioner for health and consumer policy, said in a statement.
The European Union banned animal testing of finished cosmetic products in 2004. A second ban, on animal-tested ingredients, went into effect four years ago. But heavy lobbying by major cosmetics manufacturers resulted in an extension of the deadline for some tests for effects like allergies and cancer and for which there is still no substitute. Monday’s action eliminated those remaining exemptions.
But the ban of testing doesn’t come with all good news. It could seriously limit the amount of products available to beauty enthusiasts across the globe, as the industry has not yet worked out a suitable alternative to testing some ingredients on animals.
While this may seem like a harsh rule to put into place, think about the conscious rabbits who are subjected to testing so painful, that it is commonplace for them to break their own necks trying to escape.
Read more about the new ban and how it will affect the import of some of your favorite makeup brands over at the New York Times.
And for more on cosmetic testing on animals, check here.
*The above photo is from a Banksy “Banksy’s Village Pet Store and Grill,” exhibition in 2008, a tongue in cheek portrayal of humans’ treatment of animals.
