15 June 2011 – Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for South East England, has called for an end to the import and sale of cosmetics containing ingredients which are tested on animals. Speaking at an event which he hosted in the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday, Keith expressed concern that a full EU ban on the marketing of these products, due to come into force in 2013, may be delayed yet again.
Later this year the European Commission may put forward a legislative proposal calling for the ban to be delayed. The decision will depend on whether they judge there to be enough alternatives to animal testing available. The current legislation contains an exception for three specific animal tests. These products, tested outside the EU, can still be sold in the EU until 2013.
At the event MEPs, representatives of the European Commission, animal protection NGOs and the cosmetics industry (1) debated whether the EU ban on the sale of cosmetics tested on animals should finally come into force in 2013 or not.
Keith Taylor MEP is calling on the Commission to accept the need for the full ban to come into force without further delay.
Keith said: “It is clear that the cosmetics industry has been given enough time to find alternative tests. It is totally unacceptable that cosmetics companies continue to try and stall this legislation while thousands of ingredients are already available to them and many viable, and in some cases more accurate, alternatives to animal testing exist.
He continued: “Where these alternatives exist, I find it appalling that products sold in the EU still contain ingredients which are tested on animals. This is a cruel and unnecessary practice which the parliament has already voted to ban. A decision to delay the implementation of the ban on cosmetics containing these ingredients will simply delay decisive action on this issue for many more years to come.“
Simon Duffy, Founder of Bulldog Natural Skincare and a speaker at the event, commented: ‘As a leading natural skincare company, which has always been highly committed to not testing its products or ingredients on animals, we call on the EU to honour its commitment to introduce a full ban in 2013.’
Nick Palmer, Director of Policy at the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), said: ‘This event was very informative and was well-attended, which shows the level of interest there is in this issue at an EU level. We hope that today’s debate helped to highlight that there are alternatives to animal testing and that a full ban must be implemented without further delay.’
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. The event, held on Tuesday 14 June in the European Parliament, was co-hosted by Keith Taylor MEP, Chris Davies MEP and Julie Girling MEP and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE). The panel included Nick Palmer (BUAV), Dr Katy Taylor (ECEAE), Simon Duffy (Bulldog Natural Skincare, www.meetthebulldog.com) and Susanne Hoeke, Legal Adviser, within the Directorate General for Health and Consumers at the European Commission.
