Animal Testing and its Last Days?

China’s State Food and Drug Administration, or SFDA, has released a draft proposal approving the use of alternatives to animal testing for cosmetics. This is the first time the SFDA, which oversees the testing and registration of all domestically and internationally produced cosmetics on sale in China, has seriously considered changing its regulations to allow non-animal testing alternatives for cosmetics.


“With the fast development of the economy, animal welfare and protection are becoming more popular,” Professor Zhao Hua, who is head of the China Cosmetics Research Center, or CCRC, at Beijing Technology and Business University.


International cosmetic brands who want to import their products into China have to undergo stringent registration and licensing procedures, often using a company such as Guo’s CIRS to help them navigate China’s intricacies and bureaucracy. Any ingredient that has not previously been made available on the Chinese market is required to undergo a number of tests before it is licensed, including some conducted on animals. This regulation has become problematic for some international companies, which had previously committed to abandoning animal testing, but must now allow animal testing to gain access to the massive Chinese cosmetics market. Animal testing in China has recently become a hot-button issue in the U.S., where a class action lawsuit was filed in the central district of California on Feb. 28 against the Estée Lauder Cos., Inc., Avon Products Inc. and Mary Kay Inc. There also is pressure being applied by the California lawsuit, which alleges that Lauder, Avon and Mary Kay resumed animal testing of cosmetics in order to enter the Chinese market, despite claiming in the U.S. that their products are “cruelty free.”




Lauder stoutly defended its policies. “More than 20 years ago, we were one of the first companies to end animal testing to substantiate the safety of our products,” a Lauder spokeswoman told WWD in response to the lawsuit. “It is important that we share with you that our commitment to end animal testing everywhere has not changed. Our products are not tested on animals except when absolutely mandated by law. We are committed to the universal acceptance of non-animal test methods with the goal of eliminating animal testing. We will continue to invest in scientific research to promote acceptance of non-animal test methods by authorities around the world.”