Trading Standards Asked to Investigate Cosmetics Brands for Possible Illegal Marketing Following Animal Tests
Are Clinique, Clarins, Dior, and others illegally marketing cosmetics tested on animals? Following an appeal from PETA and a petition signed by more than 15,000 supporters, the government agrees to ask for an investigation.
In 2015, PETA US research concluded that at least nine leading cosmetics companies may be violating UK and European legislation by selling in the UK products that are also marketed in China, where tests on animals are required by law.
© Doctors Against Animal Experiments
Following the submission of a complaint by PETA, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has announced that it’s asking Trading Standards to investigate several cosmetics brands for possible violations of the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013. PETA has called on Trading Standards to ensure that companies aren’t breaking the law by relying on data from animal tests in demonstrating product safety in the EU, that companies declare all animal-testing data in their product files, and that consumers are not misled about the cruelty-free status of products.
The cosmetics brands that Trading Standards is being asked to investigate include Benefit, Bliss, Caudalie, Clarins, Clinique, Dior, Estée Lauder, Gucci (distributed by Proctor & Gamble), and Revlon.
Publicly available information from the China Food and Drug Administration demonstrates that many cosmetics products that are readily available on the shelves of UK stores are also registered in China, where testing cosmetics on animals is still compulsory. Estée Lauder admitted to paying for tests on animals in China, while the other companies haven’t denied paying for them.
Experiments used to assess the toxicity of cosmetics products include the notorious Draize test, in which rabbits are placed in restraining stocks so that they cannot struggle or wipe their eyes. Their eyelids are held open, and chemicals are dripped, sprayed, or rubbed into their eyes. In the similarly horrific skin test, chemicals are typically rubbed onto rabbits’ shaved skin to check for the severity of the reaction, before they’re killed or “washed out” and reused.
All cosmetics companies that sell in China know that animals will be killed for their eye shadow or shampoo. This is inexcusable – especially if Europeans who support these companies have no idea that the cosmetics marketing ban has been breached and their trust betrayed. Caring consumers have the right to know whether products they’re buying in good faith have secretly been tested on animals.
Learn more about how animals can be hurt and killed for the sake of make-up, soap, and other toiletries and how PETA and its affiliates are helping develop non-animal testing methods that’ll encourage companies to phase out horrific experiments on animals. And please consider supporting our campaigns for all animals with a donation.
