Humane Society International is praising the Commission of Science of Technology of the Brazilian Senate for voting unanimously in favour of strong amendments to proposed federal legislation to ban cosmetic animal testing and trade in Brazil. The changes proposed by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues close major loopholes in the 2014 Chamber of Deputies bill 70/2014, building on existing state-level bans in São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Pará and Amazonas, and position Brazil alongside the 37 other major economies that have already enacted similar legislative bans.

Sen. Rodrigues said: “This humane effort is the least that can be done. The continuation of these abominable tests is a direct offense against the constitutional principle inscribed in art.225, VII, of the Constitution, according to which practices that subject animals to cruelty are forbidden. Animal abuse would already be questionable, from a constitutional and ethical point of view, even if there were a consensus about the need for such tests, but it is certain that, once it is established that these tests are unnecessary, unconstitutionality is clear and uncontroversial.”

Antoniana Ottoni, HSI legislative officer for research and toxicology, said: “We thank Senator Rodrigues for proposing these critical amendments to end cosmetic animal cruelty in our country. His amendments will encourage investments in human-relevant non-animal testing methods that are more protective of consumer safety than the obsolete animal tests they replace. We congratulate the members of the Commission of Science and Technology for voting in favor of these changes and we will now work with the members of the Environment Commission to confirm them.”

The bill will now be examined by the Environment Commission.

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Senator Rodrigues’ report is available here.

More information about the bill is available here.

Media contact: Raul Arce-Contreras (US), rcontreras@humanesociety.org, +1 301.721.6440