Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Relief for rabbits, mice, others
California, Nevada, Illinois join push to ban cosmetics tested on animals
LAS VEGAS — A growing number of U.S. states are considering a ban on the sale or import of cosmetics that have been tested on animals, as advocates argue testing products such as lotions, shampoos and makeup on rabbits, mice and rats is cruel and outdated.
The cause has gained support from consumers and many cosmetics companies, but the biggest hurdle is China, which requires that cosmetics sold in its large, lucrative market undergo testing on animals.
California, Nevada and Illinois all saw new laws take effect this year that ban the sale or import of animal-tested cosmetics.
The laws, which apply to tests performed after Jan. 1, aren’t expected to cause much disruption for the industry because many companies already use nonanimal testing.
Instead, they draw a line in the sand that puts pressure on the U.S. government to pass a nationwide ban and help end
China’s requirement that most cosmetics sold in that nation of more than 1.4 billion people undergo testing on animals by Chinese regulators.
China’s policy applies to all imported cosmetics, including makeup, perfume and hair care products, along with some “special use” goods produced in China, such as hair dye, sunscreen and whitening products that make functional claims.
Animal-tested cosmetics already are banned in Europe, India and elsewhere.
A ban in the United States, one of the world’s largest economies, would put further global pressure on China to end its policy and push Chinese cosmetics companies to rely on nonanimal tests if they want to sell their products in the U.S.
“We’re not trying to create an island out here in Nevada,” said state Sen. Melanie Scheible, who sponsored Nevada’s law. “We are trying to join a group of other communities that have stood up and said, ‘We don’t support animal testing.’ ”
Animal-rights groups like Cruelty Free International and the Humane Society of the United States hope to get more states to pass bans this year.
Legislation has been introduced or will soon be made public in Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia, according to Cruelty Free International, and a national ban has been introduced in
Congress since 2014, though the bipartisan measure has been slow to advance.
The most recent version introduced in November marks the first time the country’s leading cosmetics trade group, the Personal Care Products Council, has become a vocal backer of the ban, support that should ease lawmaker concerns about business opposition.
The California, Nevada and Illinois laws create exemptions for any cosmetics that were tested on animals to comply with regulations of a foreign government — an exception that acknowledges the reality that most companies will see their products tested on animals if they sell in China.
Scheible said her aim in Nevada was not to punish those multinational corporations but to raise awareness and put pressure on other governments, like China, to act.
“A lot of people thought that we no longer tested on animals at all,” she said. “They thought that this was already a thing of the past.”
The bans in all three states require cosmetics sellers to use nonanimal tests to prove their products are safe. Many international companies are already doing that after the European Union passed a series of similar bans on animal testing, culminating with a 2013 ban on the sale of animal-tested products.