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We are celebrating Canada’s ban on cosmetics animal testing and trade as it comes into effect on December 22, at the end of a decade-long campaign to stop animals suffering in the name of beauty.
The law, which was part of the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-47) passed in June 2023, bans cosmetics animal testing and also prohibits the selling of 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.
Our campaign for a cruelty-free Canada began in 2013, when we first reached out to the Minister of Health of Canada about matching global progress in banning animal testing for cosmetics. Now, December 22 puts a final exclamation point to the end of our decade-long campaign alongside The Body Shop, making Canada the 44th country to pass laws to end or limit cosmetics animal testing and/or sales.
The United States, though, has still not passed the federal Humane Cosmetics Act despite 11 states adopting their own cruelty-free cosmetics legislation.
Our Head of Public Affairs North America, Monica Engebretson, said, “We applaud the Canadian government for fulfilling the wishes of the vast majority of its citizens, who have long supported this ban. This was a unifying issue that earned cross-party support in Canada and matches 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.
“Now we hope that the United States follows their neighbours’ lead by passing the Humane Cosmetics Act. Over one third of US residents already live in states which have their own cruelty-free cosmetics laws, and a federal law is long overdue.”
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 see the implementation of Bill C-47 today, banning cosmetic animal testing in Canada - forever. We applaud the government 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 marched on Parliament Hill in 2018 and collected over 925,000 signatures calling for this change.”
If you live in the US ask your US Representative to support the federal Humane Cosmetics Act.