Letter to Home Secretary urges a rethink
Today, companies involved in the UK cosmetics industry have joined with Cruelty Free International to issue a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel demanding that the UK uphold its cosmetics animal testing bans and urging her to rule out new cosmetics tests on animals.
Eighty companies from across the industry – large corporates, small and medium-sized enterprises, ingredients manufacturers, retailers and animal-free testing facilities – are speaking out after civil servants in the Home Office said they were aligning with a decision made by the appeal board of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to expand the use of animal testing to ingredients used exclusively in cosmetic products.
In the letter, we are urging the Government to uphold its 1998 policy ban on animal testing for cosmetics and their ingredients, the first such ban in the world and a driving force behind the EU animal testing and marketing bans that followed – setting the precedent for cosmetics products and ingredients to be used safely without subjecting animals to cruel and unnecessary tests.
Kerry Postlewhite, our Director of Public Affairs said: “In 2021, we didn’t expect to be revisiting our campaigns of the 1980s against the use of animals to test cosmetics, especially in light of the Government’s commitment that Brexit would be better for animals. Yet here we are. We’re delighted to see so many from the industry speak out and thank them sincerely for calling for the bans to be upheld fully, as intended and as consumers expect.”
Chris Davis, Director of Sustainability, Activism & Corporate Communications at The Body Shop, said: “We are saddened and angered that the UK Government is open to changing a policy that may result in cosmetics ingredients being tested on animals for the first time in 23 years. The Body Shop was the first global beauty brand to fight on this issue and we successfully campaigned to ban animal testing in cosmetics in the UK in 1998 and our commitment to end this unnecessary and cruel practice remains at the heart of our company to this day. We urge the Government to consider their position and do the right thing.”
Take action by signing our #TargetZero petition to end animal testing in the UK and by writing to your MP to tell them that you say no to the use of animals to test cosmetics.
