Libero.id - Australia has followed the European Union's 2013 ban of animal testing of cosmetic products, effective July 2017.
The decision will no doubt rattle the international beauty market and have lasting political and economical consequences as brands such as L’Oréal, Revlon or Estée Lauder, that will no longer have the same exposure on the Australian market.
In fact, thousands of products will be banned from stores. Any products that contain substances tested on animals will be simply removed and be banned from being sold.
Nationals senator Fiona Nash expressed herrelief after the legislation was finally accepted after 12 months of negations with the industry. “Having worked hard on this important issue, I’m glad to see it through to fruition. […] Australians don’t want to see animals hurt unnecessarily. This brings us into line with the EU and produces consistent streamlined policy.”
Until recently, more than 27.000 animals were used by researchers to test cosmetic products in Australia. It will still be legal to use animals as testing subjects for medical purposes, such as for drug development. But it will be illegal in all other cases.
For the safety of consumers, it is still necessary to first conduct trials on animals. However, it all depends on the circumstances of the testing, as assistant health minister Ken Wyatt explained in an interview: “We acknowledge animal testing is essential in certain scientific contexts such as medicinal drug development but we want to make sure that it’s only used in ethically justifiable circumstances.”
New Zealand already prohibited animal tasting last year and more and more countries will follow Australia’s lead, even if it won’t always be easy to find an alternative. The research and development departments of the biggest global cosmetics companies are therefore already setting up new technologies to adapt their testing methods and make sure it wouldn’t hurt any living being.
Opini