European Commission to finalise roadmap to phase out animal testing by March 2026

By Julia Wray | Published: 3-Jun-2025
Regulatory

The Commission has promised to reduce animal testing in response to the ‘Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics’ citizens’ initiative

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The European Commission has announced plans to finalise a roadmap for phasing out animal testing by March 2026.

It first promised a plan for the move away from animal testing to meet the requirements of the European Union (EU’s) chemicals regulations back in 2023.

Its proposed roll-out of “legislative and non-legislative actions to further reduce animal testing” is in response to the European Citizens’ Initiative’s (ECI) ‘Save Cruelty-free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing’, presented to the Commission back in May of that year.

Now, it has said it intends to finalise a roadmap for this “by the first quarter [of] 2026 at the latest”.

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