Cosmetic products sold in Europe are not tested on animals.
The cosmetics industry has successfully phased out the use of animal testing for finished cosmetic products long before the official ban came into effect in September 2004. The ban on animal testing of cosmetic ingredients in the EU came fully into effect in July 2013. However, the testing ban is already in place since 2009 (but testing for certain complex endpoints could still be done outside the EU) – since 2013 it became also prohibited to market products that contained ingredients which were tested in animals (including for the toxicological endpoints that were exempted in 2009 – as from 2013 the ban is complete both for testing and marketing). However, many cosmetic ingredients are used for other applications that do not fall under the Cosmetics Regulation and for this reason, animal testing may be mandatory. As a pioneer and leader in the development of animal-free safety assessment, the industry has invested a significant amount of funds into research and development of technologies that feed into novel, sustainable animal-free safety testing strategies in line with the European regulatory framework: The research into alternatives to animal testing is founded on a multidisciplinary partnership and continuous exchange. This is not only between Cosmetics Europe’s member companies, but also with other groups that have a legitimate interest in alternatives to animal testing. Cosmetics Europe collaborates with the regulatory community, validating agencies, interested public and academia as well as partners for commercial exploitation (small and medium sized enterprises and large industries) to maximize its impact.
