Peta has suspended giving its cruelty-free stamp of approval to beauty brands selling products in certain countries due to a loophole in testing requirements in the EU.
The animal rights group’s ‘Beauty Without Bunnies’ programme certifies when a brand does not conduct animal testing throughout the supply chain, including ingredients, formulations and finished products, or sell in markets which require it.
In the EU, the Cosmetics Regulation outlaws animal testing for cosmetics purposes.
However, Peta has called out a loophole in legislation which allows cosmetics products that have been tested on animals under separate legislation.
Under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), animal testing is mandated for assessing the risk of certain chemicals in the workplace.
Peta has now announced a “policy overhaul" in order to “preserve the integrity of the cruelty-free standard going forward” and is calling for the loophole to be closed.
This means that only those companies that sell their products in the US, Canada, Germany or India will be listed on Peta’s list of cruelty-free companies.
“The Peta entities in these countries accept applications for the cruelty-free designation and keep their own lists,” the not-for-profit organisation said in a statement.
“They can communicate with those companies and be assured that companies’ commitments to removing tests on animals from their supply chain remain intact.
“Applications from companies marketing exclusively in other countries are suspended until the EU closes the REACH cosmetics loophole.
“Any company found to be in breach of the ‘Beauty Without Bunnies; standards will be placed on the ‘do test’ list.”
Dr Julia Baines, Peta’s Head of Science Policy, said: “Thousands of animals are being force-fed cosmetics ingredients in painful and deadly tests, despite overwhelming support from more than 1.2 million citizens who signed the European Citizens’ Initiative to protect and strengthen the EU’s groundbreaking bans on animal testing for cosmetics.
“The European Commission must respect the will of EU citizens and save cruelty-free cosmetics.”
The interplay between the two contradictory legislations has been known for some time.
Companies have previously appealed the requirement for further testing under REACH rules that involve animals.
In 2020, Peta told Cosmetics Business that it had been involved in five cases since 2014.
However, such testing demands typically only come to light if an appeal is lodged, which is not always the case.
At the time, the ECHA said it did not record the number of compliance check decisions according to specific use, such as for cosmetics products.
In a case in 2023, the General Court of the European Court of Justice ruled against German cosmetic ingredients manufacturer Symrise, which sought to overturn a decision mandating that it test two of its cosmetic-only ingredients on animals.
Commenting on Peta’s latest move, Caroline Rainsford, Director of Science at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA), said the industry was working with regulators to move to non-animal testing.
“The UK and European cosmetics industry voluntarily stopped animal testing on finished cosmetic products in the 1990s, long before the official European ban in 2004,” she said.
“Furthermore, our industry significantly contributed to the development and validation of all alternative methods available today to test ingredients and finished products, work on which began many years prior to the ban.
“Although there is already the animal testing ban in place under the Cosmetics Regulation, the cosmetics industry is committed to working with partners to ensure the safety of the chemicals we use without the need for animals, under other chemicals legislation, and we continue to work with the regulatory authorities to promote the acceptance of non-animal tests.
Animal-testing ban history
In the EU, a ban on the testing of finished cosmetic products on animals came into effect in September 2004.
A ban on animal testing of cosmetic ingredients in the EU came into effect in March 2009, at which point it became illegal to test cosmetic ingredients for that purpose on animals in Europe.
A marketing ban, to ensure that ingredients could not be tested anywhere in the world on animals to meet the requirements of the EU Cosmetics Regulation, came into effect 11 March 2013.
This means that no cosmetic ingredients can be used in the EU if they have been tested on animals anywhere in the world to meet the requirements of EU consumer cosmetics regulations.
However, to meet the requirements of REACH – which exists to ensure human health in the workplace and the environment – the collection of new data on cosmetic ingredients using animal tests may be mandated.
The UK government put in place a similar policy post-Brexit, but in 2023 banned giving licences for the animal testing of materials used exclusively as ingredients in cosmetic products following pressure from activists.
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