I guess Elle Woods was on to something, because the UK just banned animal testing for cosmetic purposes and ingredients on Wednesday, May 17th 2023.
“No new licenses will be issued for animal testing of chemicals used exclusively as cosmetics ingredients,” the government has said.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced the ban on Wednesday after it recently emerged that the UK had been granting licenses for animal testing since 2019, in certain circumstances in line with EU chemicals regulations.
Starting on Wednesday, no more new licenses will be granted for animal testing of chemicals that are exclusively meant to be used as ingredients in cosmetic products.
This battle did not come easy for days; animal activists feared that cosmetic brands would soon be free to test on animals even more than they do now. But thankfully, Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak fought off resistance from the environment to make sure the ban stayed and continued in place to protect us and animals, too.
In 2020, the EU Chemicala Agency stated that brands that needed to test some products on animals could now do so to keep workers safe. This same rule was set to apply to the UK, sparking conflict in many and animal activists’ uproaring.
A government source told The Sun: “The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary were clear that this ban needed to happen and they forced it through – it was the right thing to do despite the issue of EU law compliance.”
DEFRA fired back saying, “This is nonsense.”
Dr. Penny Hawkins, head of the RSPCA’s animals in the science department, said: “We are really pleased that the UK Government has reconsidered its policy and announced an immediate licensing ban on the use of animals for testing chemicals used exclusively as cosmetic ingredients.
“The public are strongly against the use of animals to test cosmetics, and RSPCA research shows that 76 per cent of UK adults are very concerned about the use of animals in scientific research and testing.”
Ms Hawkins added: “We hope that this is the first step of a serious commitment by the UK Government to do more towards phasing out the use of animals in science.”
