Cruelty Free International has ramped up its efforts to end animal testing for cosmetics by launching a global campaign.
The organisation hopes to see a resolution placed on the agenda of the United Nations to implement a global ban.
In order to achieve this, Cruelty Free International needs a country to sponsor the resolution and work to obtain the backing of other member countries.
Michelle Thew, CEO of Cruelty Free International, told Cosmetics Business: “We are going to be working hard to get as many countries as possible to step up and put that resolution down, and we are going to be asking people all over the world who care about this issue to call on their governments to be the ones who champion this and take it forward.”
Specifically, Thew said Cruelty Free International will write to the head of government in every UN member country to encourage them to table or support a resolution.
FLASH MOB: Cruelty Free International outside the United Nations headquarters in New York last week
The organisation is beginning with General Secretary of the UN Antonio Guterres, asking him to help draw up a set of global rules to protect animals, consumers and the cosmetics industry.
Thew is realistic about Cruelty Free International’s ambitions, adding: “The wheels of international organisations don't always turn as quickly as we would like them too.
“We'll be doing everything we can to get a resolution on the table fast. Cosmetics animal testing is already past its sell by date.”
Animal testing is already banned in the EU, Israel, India and New Zealand, but other countries are still required by law to use this method of testing.
“If it can be done in Europe - the world's biggest cosmetics market - then it can be done everywhere,” Thew added. “If it's the right thing to do in Europe, then it's the right thing to do everywhere.”
