From the PCRM, Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine
Today marks a historic moment as today is the first day that the marketing, import, and sale of animal-tested cosmetics and their ingredients are no longer legal in the European Union (EU). The Physicians Committee spent years rallying support for this ban that will save the lives of countless rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and rats who suffer and die each year for cosmetics testing.
Two years ago, the Physicians Committee delivered nearly 25,000 letters from EU residents and people around the world to the European Commission (EC). The letters called on the EC to maintain its 2013 deadline for a ban on the marketing of cosmetic products tested on animals. Physicians Committee supporters Alicia Silverstone and True Blood’s Kristin Bauer also wrote letters calling for the ban.
This ban follows Israel’s Jan. 1 ban that no longer allows the import and marketing of cosmetics, toiletries, or household cleaners that were tested on animals. Earlier this year—encouraged by the EU’s approaching ban—India announced that it is also planning to impose a ban on testing cosmetics on animals.
But we’re not resting until the United States joins the EU and Israel. We’re talking with U.S. lawmakers, cosmetics manufacturers, and ingredient suppliers. Our new Come Clean campaign is working to end excruciating skin irritation and corrosion tests on animals. Come Clean asks cosmetics companies to reveal whether they perform these tests, so Physicians Committee scientists can help them transition to superior, cruelty-free test methods.
If the people of the EU, Israel, and India can safely use cruelty-free cosmetics, it’s time for the United States to join them and for all cosmetics companies to come clean.
Sincerely,
Kristie Sullivan, M.P.H.
Director of Regulatory Testing Issues
Animals Are Fellow Beings 