Bulletin 13,966-11 passed unanimously by Senate, making Chile the third country in South America to abolish animal testing for cosmetics
Humane Society International / Latin America
Meredith Lee/HSUS
SANTIAGO, Chile—after a multi-year campaign by Humane Society International and ONG Te Protejo, cosmetic animal testing as well as the manufacturing, import and marketing of cosmetics tested on animals elsewhere in the world has been officially banned in Chile. This followed a unanimous vote by the full Senate session chaired by Juan Antonio Coloma on Dec. 20.
The Bill was further supported by the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration—a global initiative that brings together corporate and non-profit leaders, including Lush, Unilever, Avon, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble, the Chilean cosmetics industry association Camera Cosmetica, and other cosmetic and chemical manufacturers.
“Thanks to the passion and determination of animal loving consumers, progressive beauty brands, and politicians across the globe who share our desire for a cruelty-free world, animal testing for cosmetics has been banned in 45 countries,” said Daniela Benavides Sanchez, Humane Society International country director for Chile. “HSI and our partners have been instrumental in securing many of these bans, including in Brazil, Mexico, Canada, India, South Korea and Australia. Today we are delighted to welcome Chile to this list of nations and commend Juan Antonio Coloma and members of Senate for making the landmark legislation a reality.”
“This is a milestone for our organization and for animals. Thanks to this initiative, countless animals will be saved from unnecessary cruelty in Chile,” stated Nicole Valdebenito, director of awareness and advocacy at NGO Te Protejo. “In addition to suffering, these experiments are outdated compared to new methods that do not require living beings.”
“This is a historic step forward thanks to the determined support of Te Protejo and Humane Society International,” said Senator Juan Luis Castro, president of the Health Commission. “We are pleased that we have taken a step in the right direction for animal protection so that cosmetics will never be tested on animals again in Chile.”
The launch of HSI’s stop-motion animated short film #SaveRalph—the heartbreaking story of a rabbit “tester” who was brought to life by a star-studded multinational and multilingual cast—influenced legislative momentum and garnered the support of the national cosmetics industry association, Camera Cosmetica and the Institute of Public Health. Upon its launch in 2021, the HSI film went viral worldwide, with more than 150 million social media views, over 865 million tags on TikTok, and generated more than 300,000 petition signatures in Chile.
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Media contact: Emily Ehrhorn, senior specialist for media relations at HSUS, eehrhorn@humanesociety.org ; +1 2027791814
Humane Society International / South Korea
CreativeNature_nl/iStock.comstock
SEOUL—Humane Society International/Korea and 346 South Korean academic and industry experts delivered a letter to the chair of National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, Dong Kun Shin, urging the Korean government to pass bills promoting state-of-the-art science replacing animal testing.
Through a series of political forums to discuss these bills with authorities and wider stakeholders in the past few years, a general agreement has been established that South Korea is at a pivotal moment in advancing health and safety science without relying on animal models. To achieve this, the bills stipulate collaborative work between authorities by providing a basic plan every five years. In addition, a committee consisting of experts in alternative approaches to animal testing will be established pursuant to the Act.
One of the signatories of the letter, Professor Kyungmin Lim, at Ehwa University said: “As a researcher, I work closely with new method developers and end-users. I experience time and time again the need to have a legislation in Korea to support those scientists and a relevant network for collective efforts in developing and accepting alternative approaches to animal use.”
HSI/Korea’s director of government affairs, Borami Seo said: “There is an increasing interest in using modern technologies that are more predictive of human responses than animal models. Last May, ’Korea’s innovative strategic industry committee’ selected the cell-based human mimetic method organoid as an ‘innovative strategic technology’ and promised research and development support. We are witnessing an increasing demand for these technologies, and the PAAM Act and VAAM Act are exactly the bills that are crucial to ensure these research and development efforts lead to its regulatory uptake and industrial use in the field. Now is a critical time to pass this legislation.”
The proposed legislation would ban new cosmetics testing on animals in the United States
Humane Society International / United States
Kevin Wolf/AP Photo for HSI
WASHINGTON—Today, a stellar cast assembled on Capitol Hill to support passage of the Humane Cosmetics Act; the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund and Humane Society International were joined by celebrity advocates—TV personality and entrepreneur Lala Kent and actress Tricia Helfer—and Lush Cosmetics in urging members of Congress to pass the Humane Cosmetics Act (H.R. 5399), which would end new cosmetics testing on animals in the United States and would prohibit the import and sale of cosmetics in the U.S. that have been newly tested on animals elsewhere in the world.
U.S. Representatives Don Beyer, D-Va., Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., Ken Calvert, R-Calif., and Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif. are sponsoring the legislation. Kent, Helfer and Lush Cosmetics are also speaking at a reception which will include a screening of HSI’s OSCAR®-shortlisted Save Ralph for members of Congress.
“A compassionate, stop-motion-animation puppet named Ralph is doing more to shine a spotlight on the continued use of animals in cosmetics testing than some of us who have lobbied for decades to end it,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund. “He’s joined by an increasing number of bipartisan members of Congress and two amazing advocates in Lala and Tricia to pass the Humane Cosmetics Act. Right now, there is no second act for animals like Ralph. The U.S. Congress needs to pass the bill and Save Ralph.”
Rabbits, mice, rats and guinea pigs are used in traditional animal testing for cosmetics such as perfume, moisturizer, nail polish, makeup—such as mascara and lipstick—and hair products such as hairspray and conditioner.
“I have been an animal lover all my life, and becoming a mother inspired me to help create a more humane world for my daughter to grow up in. Cosmetics testing on animals is a barbaric practice that has no place in the United States,” said TV personality and entrepreneur Lala Kent. “It is an honor to be given the opportunity to use my voice and advocate for animals today on Capitol Hill. Our nation’s leaders need to join the fight for all animals, especially the ones kept in the shadows.”
In typical cosmetics animal tests, rabbits are locked in neck restraints and have chemical substances dripped in their eye or applied on to the shaved skin on their back. Guinea pigs and mice have the chemicals spread on their shaved skin or on their ears. None of these animals are given pain relief, and all of them will be killed at the end.
“Despite having been involved with the beauty industry my entire career through modeling and acting, I was woefully unaware of the ongoing cruel testing on animals for beauty products until I started working with Humane Society International. I was astonished while advocating for HSI’s cruelty-free campaign by how many Americans told me the same thing,” said actress Tricia Helfer, voice of “Cottonballs” in the English-language version of Save Ralph. “With modern testing methods, there is absolutely no need for animals to suffer in the name of beauty. Save Ralph has done a remarkable job bringing that awareness to the public, and I am honored to be here on Capitol Hill today to help push the Humane Cosmetics Act to become a reality.”
“The U.S. is woefully behind other countries in ending the use of animals in cosmetics testing and is the only North American country that still allows this cruel and wasteful practice. The Humane Cosmetics Act would finally end cosmetics animal testing in one of the world’s largest cosmetics markets, helping to create a more humane world for animals and we are in full support of it,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane Society of the United States. “Already 11 states have passed bans on cosmetics animal testing, and we are proud to have led these campaigns. The federal government should reflect the values of an increasingly humane-minded public by implementing a national ban.”
California, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Virginia have already passed laws to ban the sale of cosmetics that have been newly tested on animals. Ending cosmetic testing on animals is a top priority for the HSUS, HSLF and HSI, and the organizations have been key players in these successful efforts.
“Thanks to the passion and determination of animal loving consumers and politicians across the globe who share our desire for a cruelty-free world, animal testing for cosmetics is already banned in 44 countries. HSI and our partners have been instrumental in securing bans in Canada, Mexico, India, South Korea, Brazil, Australia and beyond,” said Jeffrey Flocken, president of Humane Society International. “We’re now urging policy makers in the United States to join this list of nations banning animal testing for cosmetics.”
In 2021, HSI released Save Ralph, a short film and global viral sensation which follows a rabbit’s daily routine as a “tester” in a lab, illustrating the cruelty of animal testing. In addition to Helfer, the award-winning English-language version features the voices of Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff and Zac Efron and has amassed over 150 million online views and 900 million+ #saveralph views on TikTok. The film is also available in Spanish, Portuguese, French and Vietnamese, that include the voices of actors George Lopez, Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, Rodrigo Santoro, Pom Klementieff, Denis Villeneuve, H’Hen Nie and Diem My Vu. Save Ralph was instrumental in propelling Mexico, Brazil and Canada to ban cosmetic animal testing and is helping advance other legislation in several other countries that make up the world’s most influential beauty markets. Today, the film will be screened for members of Congress at a reception headlined by Helfer, Kent and Lush Cosmetics.
World-renowned cosmetics company Lush continues to lead the way in fighting against new animal testing for cosmetics and strongly supports the Humane Cosmetics Act.
“As a company committed to ending animal testing since inception, manufacturing and selling cruelty-free cosmetics and transparency into our non-animal tested supply chain has not limited our ability to invent and grow,” said Carleen Pickard, Advocacy & Activism Manager of Lush Cosmetics. “We continue to campaign globally and welcome the reintroduction of the Humane Cosmetics Act to this Congress so that the United States can support consistent cruelty-free regulation and meet the public’s desire for cruelty-free products and future environmental needs of our planet.”
The cosmetics industry itself largely supports an end to animal testing for its products, and the HSUS and HSLF have worked closely with the Personal Care Products Council, the trade organization representing 90% of the U.S. cosmetics industry, on the Humane Cosmetics Act. The legislation also has the endorsement of more than 390 individual companies including global beauty giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble, official supporters in the #BeCrueltyFree campaign to ban animal testing for cosmetics in all major global beauty markets.
More than 1,500 cruelty-free beauty brands are available in North America. Cosmetics companies are able to create new and innovative products using thousands of ingredients that have a history of safe use and do not require additional testing. For new ingredients, modern testing methods—such as human cell-based tests and sophisticated computer models—provide a more human-relevant and efficient replacement for decades-old animal tests.
Stills from Save Ralph and photos of animals used for cosmetics testing are available here.
Photos and video from the Hill meetings and reception will be available here after 9 PM EST on Wednesday.
Media contact: Kate Sarna | 202-836-1265 | katesarna@hslf.org
Humane Society International / Europe
HSI
BRUSSELS —The European Commission today kick-started a plan to phase out animal testing for chemicals across Europe but will not protect the EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics in response to the “
While campaigners welcome the plan to ultimately eliminate animal testing for chemicals and the longer-term proposals to reduce and phase out the use of animals in research and education, the Commission ignored citizens’ calls to uphold the ban on animal testing for cosmetics; a ban established by legislators over a decade ago.
Despite the introduction of an EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics ingredients in 2009, animal tests for chemicals handled by industrial workers or which may be released into the environment are still being required under the EU’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation. Disturbingly, proposed updates to REACH indicate that animal testing for chemicals is set to surge over the coming years. Rather than waiting for the EU courts to resolve this issue, citizens’ demands must be addressed to prevent further animal suffering.
In the EU and Norway, a shocking 7.9 million animals suffered in laboratories in 2020 – among them rabbits, mice, cats, and dogs. Substances are forcibly administered down their throats, and they are infected with debilitating diseases, genetically manipulated, given brain damage through surgery, exposed to severe pain, and used in breeding programs that perpetuate this cycle of suffering. Although the Commission is exploring actions to accelerate the development and use of non-animal methods, these do not constitute the root-and-branch reform demanded by EU citizens via the ECI.
The ECI was launched in August 2021 by animal protection groups Cruelty Free Europe, Eurogroup for Animals, the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments, Humane Society International/Europe, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, with the backing of beauty brands The Body Shop and Dove. The ECI called for the strengthening and protection of the ban on animal testing for cosmetics, the transformation of chemicals regulations to bring an end to testing on animals, and a commitment to phasing out all testing on animals in Europe.
Positive commitments made by the Commission in response to the ECI include the following:
To develop a roadmap to end all mandated tests on animals for industrial chemicals, pesticides, biocides and human and veterinary medicines
To explore the creation of an expert scientific committee to provide advice on the development and uptake of non-animal approaches
To propose an action of the European Research Area to coordinate national policies to replace the use of animals in laboratories and speed up development and implementation of non-animal methods
To organise one or more workshops with experts to determine future priority areas of research to accelerate the transition to animal-free science.
Citizens will now expect that everyone involved works to ensure that the measures suggested by the EC have maximum and meaningful impact, and we will continue to advocate for more action where it is needed.
“The people of Europe have made it clear that experimentation on animals has no place in our modern society,” says Sabrina Engel, chair of the ECI organising committee. “While we welcome positive actions to replace the use of animals in experiments and chemicals tests, we wholly condemn the Commission for failing to end the suffering of thousands of animals used in cosmetics tests. The Commission must now propose meaningful changes to existing legislation and policies to set member states, regulators, and assessment bodies on the path to phasing out all uses of animals in laboratories. Therefore, we are calling on all actors to pursue the goals of the ECI.”
Notes
Here is a briefing on the “Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing” ECI.
“Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics” is the second ECI on the issue that has surpassed 1 million signatures, after “Stop Vivisection” in 2015, and only the ninth ECI that has been successful out of more than 100 that have been submitted.
Across the EU, approximately 8 million animals are used in experiments or for the breeding and maintenance of genetically altered animals each year. A further 10 million animals languish in cages without being used in procedures or are used as part of the laboratory supply chain, either for breeding or so that their body parts may be used in experiments.
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Media contact: Cassie Bodin-Duval, international coordinator for media relations: cbodinduval@hsi.org ; +32 (0) 469 149 469
Minister Duclos joins animal protection coalition and cosmetics industry in celebrating passage of landmark legislation
Humane Society International / Canada
Michael Kloth/Alamy
OTTAWA, Ontario―Cosmetics animal testing and trade will officially be banned in Canada, after the Canadian government today passed measures through the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-47). In addition to banning cosmetics animal testing, the amendments will also prohibit selling cosmetics that rely on new animal testing data to establish the product’s safety, and false or misleading labelling pertaining to the testing of cosmetics on animals.
Animal protection advocates Humane Society International/Canada, Animal Alliance Canada and Cruelty Free International, together with Cosmetics Alliance Canada, Lush Cosmetics, and The Body Shop, have been working closely with the Canadian government for several years to advance workable legislation to ban cosmetics animal testing in Canada. The coalition is thrilled that Canada will now join over 40 jurisdictions and major markets that have already passed laws to end or limit cosmetics animal testing and/or sales.
The coalition joined the Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos in issuing the following statements:
Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, Government of Canada, said: “Testing cosmetics on animals is both cruel and unnecessary. That is why we are proud to move forward on our promise to ban cosmetic animal testing and trade. Protecting animals now and in the future is something many Canadians have been advocating for and now, we can all be assured that cosmetics in Canada are cruelty-free, and we will continue to take all necessary measures to improve animal welfare. ”
Michael Bernard, deputy director, Humane Society International/Canada, said: “With the passage of these historic measures to ban cosmetics animal testing and trade, Canada is getting a cruelty-free makeover. We are so thrilled that our government has listened to the millions of Canadians who want the products they buy to be cruelty-free. This legislation truly shows the great things that can happen when government, industry, the non-profit sector and the public work together to create a better future. Canadian consumers can finally rest assured that the cosmetics they purchase have not come as a result of animal suffering—and that is something we can all feel good about.”
Darren Praznik, president and CEO of Cosmetics Alliance Canada, said: “Industry and animal protection advocates have worked together over the last several years to advance a cosmetics animal testing ban in Canada. Since this issue was first raised in Parliament through a Private Member’s Bill in the Senate in 2015, our group has met frequently to build a collaborative relationship and to align on the principles with Health Canada while ensuring the ban works within the Canadian regulatory framework. We are very pleased to see the government pass this long overdue legislation.”
Liz White, director, Animal Alliance of Canada, said: “Animal Alliance supporters thank Minister Duclos and Health Canada staff for making the cosmetics animal testing ban a reality. Canada will join the growing number of countries worldwide that have ended such practices and the government will fulfill its promise to introduce legislation to end cosmetics testing on animals as soon as 2023.”
Monica Engebretson, head of public affairs North America, Cruelty Free International, said: “Cruelty Free International applauds the Canadian Government for taking action to fulfil the wishes of the vast majority of Canadian citizens who supported a ban on animal testing for cosmetics. This has been a unifying issue that has earned cross-party support in Canada and will match the progress we are seeing around the world as consumers, companies, regulators and advocates come together to achieve a common goal of ensuring that animals won’t suffer for the sake of cosmetics anywhere.”
Brandi Halls, chief ethics officer, Lush Cosmetics North America, said: “As a company that has been campaigning to bring animal testing for cosmetics to an end since our inception over 25 years ago, today we join all of the stakeholders in celebrating this important moment for the global movement. By heeding the call of people across Canada, Minister Duclos and Health Canada are putting Canada on the right side of history by banning this outdated practice. We’re proud to have partnered with Humane Society International for over a decade and through customer responses to our in-shop campaigning, we know that the voice of the majority has been heard.”
Hilary Lloyd, vice president of marketing and corporate responsibility, The Body Shop North America, said: “Since the launch of The Body Shop’s first against animal testing initiative in 1989 and our campaigns that have followed, we’re thrilled to finally see this effort materialize in Canada. We applaud Minister Duclos and Health Canada for bringing forth this legislation and thank all who have made this change possible, notably our partners at Cruelty Free International and The Body Shop’s passionate retail teams and activist customers, who delivered over 625,000 signatures to Parliament Hill in 2018 calling for this change.”
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Media contacts:
Michael Bernard, HSI/Canada, deputy director, mbernard@hsi.org
Susan Nieuwhof, Cosmetics Alliance Canada, public policy and communications, snieuwhof@cosmeticsalliance.ca
Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics: Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing ECI moves forward with a hearing at the European Parliament.
Humane Society International / Europe
Jacob Studio/iStock.com
BRUSSELS—In an unprecedented milestone, the European Citizens Initiative “‘Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics —Commit to a Europe without animal testing” reached more than 1.2 million validated signatures in January. This is the second ECI on this issue that has surpassed the one million signature mark.
Continuing on its formal journey, after an initial meeting between the ECI organisers and the European Commission, the next step was the parliamentary hearing, held by the Committees of the European Parliament. The hearing was divided into three parts, corresponding with the ECI’s three objectives:
Protect and strengthen the cosmetics animal testing ban: initiate legislative change to achieve consumer, worker and environmental protection for all cosmetics ingredients without testing on animals for any purpose at any time.
Transform EU chemicals regulation: ensure human health and the environment are protected by managing chemicals without the addition of new animal testing requirements.
Modernise science in the EU: commit to a legislative proposal, plotting a roadmap to phase-out all animal testing in the EU, before the end of the current legislative term.
The ECI organisers: Cruelty Free Europe, Eurogroup for Animals, the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments, Humane Society International/Europe, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals proposed actions for a win-win-win scenario for science, society and animals by supporting once again a plan to transition to non-animal science.
During the hearing, the Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs—the Commission’s department for growth—committed to “try to be as ambitious as we can possibly be” in reaching their “ultimate goal of phasing out animal testing in the long-term”. This was reiterated by Ms Carmen Laplaza Santos, of the EC’s Health Innovations & Ecosystems unit, who promised the Commission’s final and detailed response to the Initiative by the end of July.
Over ten million animals—cats, dogs, rabbits, mice and others—are harmed every year in research and testing in laboratories around Europe. European citizens are demanding an end to the use of animals in cosmetics and other chemical tests, as well as an achievable plan to transition to a science without the use of animals.
Troy Seidle, Humane Society International vice president of research and toxicology, said:
“Reforms to the EU’s chemicals law are urgently needed to close loopholes that have allowed authorities to demand new animal tests for cosmetic ingredients, and reposition animal-free approaches as the gold standard for modern safety assessment. The much anticipated REACH reform process is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for EU institutions to honour the will of citizens who supported this ECI by standing firm against the introduction of new or expanded animal test requirements. Going forward, citizens expect that every legal reform process will tangibly reduce the testing burden on animals—not make it worse—until the EU’s stated goal of full replacement is achieved.”
This overwhelming public support echoes the position taken in 2021 by the European Parliament, which led to a resolution calling on the European Commission to coordinate, together with Member States, a concrete plan to accelerate the transition to non-animal testing.
“Citizens are calling on the EC to take a leadership role in the transition to non-animal science and drive a new way of thinking without animal experiments. We would like to thank the citizens, the NGOs, the researchers, the industry, the governments and the members of parliament that already support these goals. This ECI shows that EU citizens share many of this Parliament’s positions as laid out in the EP Resolution. We are confident that the EP will help to break the cycle of harms that come with animal experimentation, by supporting once again the end of all animal testing for cosmetics, no additional animal tests for safety assessments, and a roadmap to accelerate the transition to non-animal research, regulatory testing, and education,” commented Sabrina Engel, chair of the organising committee for the ECI.
Media contact: Cassie Bodin-Duval, International Coordinator, Media Relations, Humane Society International/Europe: cbodinduval@hsi.org ; +32 (0) 469 149 469
Animal protection organizations and cosmetics industry applaud tabling of landmark legislation
Humane Society International / Canada
mustafagull/iStock.com
*Editor’s note: This text has been updated to reflect that the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-47) has now officially been tabled in Canadian Parliament.
OTTAWA, Ontario—The Canadian government has today tabled measures through the Budget Implementation Act that would prohibit testing cosmetics on animals in Canada. The amendments would also prohibit selling cosmetics that rely on new animal testing data to establish the product’s safety and false or misleading labelling pertaining to the testing of cosmetics on animals.
Animal protection advocates Humane Society International/Canada, Animal Alliance Canada and Cruelty Free International, along with Cosmetics Alliance Canada, Lush Cosmetics and The Body Shop have been working closely with the Canadian government for several years to advance the legislation and issued the following statements:
Michael Bernard, deputy director, Humane Society International/Canada, said: “A decade of campaigning by Humane Society International/Canada and our partners is giving the Canadian beauty sector a cruelty-free makeover. We have been honoured to work closely with the Canadian government and all stakeholders to advance these measures over the years, and we are delighted to see Canada introduce this historic legislation to ban cosmetics animal testing and trade. When this bill becomes law, Canadian consumers can be assured that the cosmetics they purchase have not come as a result of animal suffering—and that is something we can all feel good about.”
Darren Praznik, president and CEO of Cosmetics Alliance Canada, said: “Industry and animal protection advocates have worked together over the last several years to advance a cosmetics animal testing ban in Canada. Since this issue was first raised in Parliament through a Private Member’s Bill in the Senate in 2015, our group has met frequently to build a collaborative relationship and to align on the principles with Health Canada while ensuring the ban works within the Canadian regulatory framework. We are very pleased to see the government bring forward this long overdue legislation.”
Liz White, director, Animal Alliance of Canada, said: “Animal Alliance supporters thank Minister Duclos and Health Canada staff for making the cosmetic animal testing ban a reality. Canada will join the growing number of countries worldwide that have ended such practices and the government will fulfill its promise to introduce legislation to end cosmetic testing on animals as soon as 2023.”
Monica Engebretson, head of public affairs North America, Cruelty Free International, said: “Cruelty Free International applauds this renewed effort to bring an end to animal testing for cosmetics across Canada. This is a unifying issue that has earned cross-party support in Canada and will match the progress we are seeing around the world as consumers, companies, regulators, and advocates come together to achieve a common goal of ensuring that animals won’t suffer for the sake of cosmetics anywhere.”
Brandi Halls, chief ethics officer, Lush Cosmetics North America, said: “As a company who has been campaigning to bring animal testing for cosmetics to an end since our inception over 25 years ago, today we join animal rights campaigners and animal lovers to celebrate this important moment for the global movement. By heeding the call of people across Canada, Minister Duclos and Health Canada are putting Canada on the right side of history ending this ineffective, inhumane and outdated practice. We’re proud to have partnered with HSI for over a decade and through customer responses to our in-shop campaigning, we know that the voice of the majority has been heard.”
Hilary Lloyd, VP of marketing and corporate responsibility, The Body Shop North America, said: “The Body Shop applauds Minister Duclos and Health Canada for their work in bringing forth this legislation. As a leader in cruelty-free beauty, we’re celebrating this milestone and reflecting on the passionate hard work from our retail teams and activist customers that delivered over 625,000 signatures to Parliament Hill in 2018 asking to end cosmetic animal testing. An important reminder that businesses have a responsibility in being a force for good. We encourage other governments around the world to follow suit.”
ENDS
Media contacts:
Michael Bernard, HSI/Canada, deputy director: 438.873.5769; mbernard@hsi.org
Animal protection organizations and cosmetics industry urge Canadian government to table legislation
Humane Society International / Canada
Meredith Lee/HSUS
OTTAWA—Today, the Canadian government introduced its 2023 federal budget, which confirmed its commitment to ban cosmetics animal testing and trade. Animal protection advocates Humane Society International/Canada, Animal Alliance Canada and Cruelty Free International, along with Cosmetics Alliance Canada, Lush Cosmetics and The Body Shop, have been working closely with the Canadian government for several years on an initiative to advance legislation banning cosmetics animal testing in Canada.
The group of stakeholders released the following statement in response to today’s budget announcement:
“We are so pleased to see the inclusion of the commitment to ban cosmetics animal testing and trade in the federal budget. This suggests a landmark opportunity for the Canadian government to ban cosmetics animal testing and trade in the pending budget implementation bill. We strongly encourage the Canadian government to fulfill its mandate by introducing this legislation at the earliest opportunity and position Canada as a global leader in promoting alternatives to animal testing,” said the group of allied stakeholders.
ENDS
Media contacts:
Michael Bernard, Humane Society International/Canada, deputy director: c: 438.873.5769; e: mbernard@hsi.org
State-of-the-art curriculum aims to build confidence, capacity, and global use of non-animal science in safety decision-making
Humane Society International
NiDerLander/iStock.com
BRUSSELS—A first-of-its-kind Master Class in Animal-Free Cosmetic Safety Assessment has been launched by the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration (AFSA), a global coalition of corporate, non-profit, and data science leaders working to advance acceptance and use of animal-free safety science as a gold standard across regulatory frameworks worldwide. Release of the AFSA Master Class comes on the 10-year anniversary of the European Union bans on cosmetics animal testing and trade, and amid growing debate regarding the value of animal-free approaches in safety decision-making.
Dr Catherine Willett, principal coordinator of the AFSA Master Class and senior director of science and regulatory affairs at Humane Society International, said: “The ability to perform animal-free risk assessment for a wide range of consumer products and their ingredients is at our doorstep, yet there remain some significant barriers to acceptance and wide implementation of these approaches. We hope our AFSA Master Class will contribute to greater understanding, acceptance, and global capacity to implement animal-free approaches as the basis for regulatory safety decisions.”
The AFSA Master Class is a free, in-depth, e-learning course designed to support safety assessors and regulators, compliance specialists, SMEs, CROs, NGOs, and other interested stakeholders develop a greater understanding of contemporary non-animal predictive approaches, and increase their confidence in their use to inform regulatory decisions, support safe and sustainable products by design, and aid compliance with mandates restricting animal testing. The course content is based on established scientific principles of “next-generation risk assessment,” an exposure-led, hypothesis-driven risk assessment approach that integrates existing knowledge with in silico, in chemico, and in vitro approaches in a tiered framework to identify situations in which a product or ingredient may be used safely.
Dr Julia H Fentem, Head of Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), Unilever said, “The safety of the cosmetics and personal care products that consumers use and trust every day is of the utmost importance. Our unique AFSA Master Class program is focused on the safety assessment of cosmetic products and ingredients without generating new animal data, and covers all aspects of using non-animal tools and data for internal company decisions-making as well as regulatory safety assessments.”
Troy Seidle, VP research & toxicology at Humane Society International said: “With significant proposed changes to EU regulations under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, a rigid focus on hazard, and some stakeholders’ lack of confidence in non-animal approaches, our AFSA Master Class comes at an opportune time. Our hope is that, through this program, we can build a future where animal-free methods are the cornerstone of a more effective, efficient, and ethical regulatory safety paradigm for cosmetics and chemicals.”
AFSA partner L’Oréal said, “We believe that scientific and regulatory advancements of non-animal testing methods is only possible through multidisciplinary cooperation. Raising awareness on better science is a fundamental step in reaching beauty without animal testing. Our AFSA Master Class is providing state-of-the art scientific content on the safety assessment of cosmetic products and ingredients, encompassing a large spectrum of predictive approaches in decision making.’’
The AFSA Master Class is available online at AFSAcollaboration.org/MasterClass and is being released in three phases in March, May, and July 2023.
ENDS
Media contacts:
Humane Society International: Cassie Bodin-Duval, international media relations coordinator : cbodinduval@hsi.org ; +32 (0) 469 149 469
The AFSA Master Class consists of 10 modules corresponding to discrete steps in the risk assessment process (problem formulation, consumer exposure, predictive chemistry, exposure-based waiving, history of safe use, in vitro assay synthesis, internal exposure, and integration into risk assessment), together with overview modules on the NGRA framework and the global regulatory environment for cosmetics.
The course content is based on the principles of next-generation risk assessment and was built by more than 50 experts from AFSA Collaboration members Avon Products Inc., Crème Global, Delphic HSE, Firmenich, Givaudan, Humane Society International, IFF, Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Lhasa Ltd., L’Oréal, Lush, Procter & Gamble, Symrise, and Unilever.
The EU was hailed as the world’s largest cruelty-free beauty market in 2013 when the final phase of its step-wise bans on cosmetics animal testing and sales entered into force. However, since 2020, the European Chemicals Agency has begun requesting new animal tests for cosmetic ingredients under the EU chemicals legislation “REACH” in spite of the ban under the cosmetic products regulation.
43 countries have stopped animal testing for cosmetics and more bans on the way
Humane Society International / Europe
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EUROPE—This Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of the European Union’s ban on cosmetic animal testing and trade, and the climax of a decade-long campaign by Humane Society International, its affiliates and partners to extend the cruelty-free cosmetics model across the globe. Humane Society International and other non-governmental organizations, together with a growing number of forward-looking beauty brands, have been instrumental in securing more than two dozen national and state animal testing or sales restrictions. Now, they are calling on countries around the globe to follow suit.
Aviva Vetter, senior manager of Humane Society International’s global cosmetics campaign, said: “We are immensely proud of how far the beauty sector has evolved since launching our #BeCrueltyFree campaign, and the life-saving impact it has had for untold numbers of animals in countries that outlawed animal testing for cosmetics, or that have moved away from such testing being mandatory. Our aim is to build on this progress by securing similar national measures in additional key markets, including Canada, Brazil, Chile, South Africa and Southeast Asia, over the coming year. It’s time to consign cosmetics testing on animals to oblivion once and for all.”
Since its 2012 launch, Humane Society International’s global campaign has produced a wave of national bans or restrictions on animal testing for cosmetics—from India, South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, Guatemala, Mexico, and just this past week, Brazil. China, long the only country to expressly require animal testing for cosmetic products as a condition of sale or import, has gradually relaxed its requirements since 2014. With 43 national bans currently in force an end to this needless and cruel practice is finally in sight.
The most iconic feature of HSI’s campaign is its charismatic spokesbunny Ralph, who became a worldwide sensation in 2021 following release of the stop-motion film Save Ralph. This docu-style film shines a poignant light on the plight of animals in testing labs through a creative collaboration between HSI, Hollywood filmmakers and animators, and a star-studded, multilingual voice cast featuring Oscar-winner Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Tricia Helfer, Pom Klementieff Denis Villeneuve, George Lopez Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, ,Rodrigo Santoro , Diem My Vu and H’Hen-Nie, who brought Ralph and his friends to life in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Vietnamese. The film’s viral popularity led to more than 825 million #SaveRalph tags and homages on TikTok, more than 150 million film views on social platforms, and inspired more than 5 million people to take action to help by signing HSI petitions. Save Ralph has gone on to win numerous prestigious awards, including the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Good award and two Webby awards.
Leadership by European lawmakers, NGOs and other stakeholders in pioneering a cruelty-free innovation model for the cosmetics sector inspired not only Humane Society International’s transformative global campaign, but the creation of a new generation of scientific tools for making safety decisions without animal testing—a true win for everyone.
Facts:
Humane Society International launched its global #BeCrueltyFree campaign in 2012 in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund and Lush Cosmetics.
Since 2019, other industry leaders have teamed up with Humane Society International through the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration to advance cosmetics animal testing bans in key global beauty markets, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Avon Products Inc., L’Oréal and Johnson & Johnson.
These and other Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration members have also developed a state-of-the-art Master Class in Animal-Free Cosmetic Safety Assessment to build confidence, capacity and global use of non-animal science in safety decision-making.
Humane Society International would like to express its heartfelt thanks to all our #SaveRalph collaborators, including writer/director/editor Spencer Susser; producers Jeff Vespa and Lisa Arianna; puppet-makers and set designer Andy Gent and the team at arch Film and Arch Model Studios; lead animator Tobias Fouracre, DP Tristan Oliver, and our incredible voice cast of Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff, Tricia Helfer, Denis Villeneuve, George Lopez, Rosario Dawson, Wilmer Valderrama, Denis Villeneuve, Rodrigo Santoro, Diem My Vu and H’Hen-Nie, who donated their time and talent to bring Ralph and his friends to life in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Vietnamese.
