UK may allow animal testing on cosmetic ingredients for first time since 1998
By Chloe Randall | 11 August 2021 | Movers & Shakers, News
The Home Office has admitted in a letter this week to animal protection organisation, Cruelty Free International that animal testing for cosmetic ingredients, including those used solely in cosmetics may be allowed for some ingredients. This is a turn around on the government’s position which has been held since 1998.
In the letter to Cruelty Free International, the government said it was aligning itself with a decision made last year by the appeals board of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which said that some ingredients used solely in cosmetics needed to be tested on animals to ensure they were safe.
It was also insisted that UK law on animal testing of finished cosmetic products had not changed, but campaigners warned that accepting the ECHA’s ruling could lead to a much wider use of animal testing. Back in 1998, the then Labour government sought to ban animal testing on cosmetics across the EU. In 2004, the EU testing ban on finished cosmetic products was introduced, and the ban on such testing of cosmetic ingredients in 2009, but with the UK no longer a member of the EU, changes could be afoot.
“This decision blows a hole in the UK’s longstanding leadership of no animal testing for cosmetics and makes a mockery of the country’s quest to be at the cutting edge of research and innovation, relying once again on cruel and unjustifiable tests that date back over half a century,” reveals Cruelty Free International’s director of science & regulatory affairs, Dr Katy Taylor.
“The government is saying that even ingredients used solely in cosmetics, and with a history of safe use, can be subjected to animal tests in the UK. These are not tests that cosmetics companies want or feel the need to do to ensure the safety of consumers or workers or of our environment. They have worked hard over decades to create and invest significantly in a range of next generation, animal-free safety assessment tools which can be used instead.”
www.crueltyfreeinternational.org