EU bans sale of all animal tested cosmetics

[Ardemax]

A complete ban on the sale of cosmetics developed through animal testing has taken effect in the EU.

The ban applies to all new cosmetics and their ingredients sold in the EU, regardless of where in the world testing on animals was carried out.
The 27 EU countries have had a ban on such tests in place since 2009. But the EU Commission is now asking the EU's trading partners to do the same.
Animal rights lobbyists said EU officials had "listened to the people".

The anti-vivisection group BUAV and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) said (http://www.buav.org/article/1212/buav-and-eceae-thank-european-commission-for-an-end-to-animal-cosmetics-testing-in-europe)they had spent more than 20 years campaigning on the issue and had enlisted celebrities including Sir Paul McCartney, Morrissey and Sienna Miller to their cause. They congratulated the EU Commission for putting the ban into effect.

But BUAV says many countries in the world still test on animals for cosmetics and the group is now pressing for a global ban.
Mice and rats are used for more than half of all lab animal tests carried out in the EU.

Despite the EU's 2009 ban, cosmetics firms were allowed to continue testing on animals for the most complex human health effects, such as toxicity which might lead to cancer. However, those tests now come under the ban too.

The EU Commission says (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-210_en.htm?locale=en)it is working with industry to develop more alternatives to animal testing, and that it allocated 238m euros (£208m; $310m) in 2007-2011 for such research.

Cosmetics firms are concerned that the ban could put Europe at a competitive disadvantage in a global market.
Cosmetics Europe chief Bertil Heerink, quoted by the Associated Press news agency, said that "by implementing the ban at this time, the European Union is jeopardising the industry's ability to innovate".

Thoughts?

[MKR&*42]

Oh, that's certainly an improvement I must say.

Can't think of anything else to say... just rather impressed (?) :P

[GommeInc]

It will be interesting to see how this goes. The counter-argument is that the EU may slip behind medical advances if this sets a precedent that all animal testing is wrong, be it cosmetic or medical (both of which do merge together in some areas).

It's good for animal rights, but you have to take this with a pinch of salt.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I'm not against animal testing at all, provided its as humane as possible.

But whatever people may think of this, this is surely a matter for the British people and the elected British government as opposed to the unelected European Commission and its bodies. A judgement from the EU, whether you think it good or bad, is always wrong on the basis that it destroys the notion of parliamentary democracy and parliamentary sovereignty - both in this matter and future matters which may be effected by this change.

[Cerys]

That's good I guess. Not really too sure on the details of animal testing etc, just know that some people are strongly against it.

I bet that people will still test with animals though. Just more discreetly.

[Ardemax]

That's good I guess. Not really too sure on the details of animal testing etc, just know that some people are strongly against it.

I bet that people will still test with animals though. Just more discreetly.

It will be impossible (or practically impossible) to sell any product that has been tested on animals in the EU. It's a bit like robbing a bank: illegal but people still do it.

[GommeInc]

It will be impossible (or practically impossible) to sell any product that has been tested on animals in the EU. It's a bit like robbing a bank: illegal but people still do it.
Worked pretty well selling beef products with horse meat in :P It could be exactly the same as that - by selling cosmetics that were tested on animals, but not declaring this at the point of producing them for sale. It would be fraud, much like the horse meat scandal.

[Cerys]

Worked pretty well selling beef products with horse meat in :P It could be exactly the same as that - by selling cosmetics that were tested on animals, but not declaring this at the point of producing them for sale. It would be fraud, much like the horse meat scandal.

Exactly what I was thinking c: