Body Shop calls on UN to globally ban cosmetic testing on animals

L'Oréal’s cosmetics and skincare company The Body Shop has partnered with non-profit organisation Cruelty Free International to call for a global ban on cosmetic products and ingredients testing on animals by 2020.

The firms started the new campaign to urge the United Nations (UN) to introduce international regulation, as around 80% of countries do not currently have policies against animal testing for cosmetics. Around 500,000 animals are said to be used to test cosmetics every year, despite the availability of validated alternatives such as artificially grown human skin.

The Body Shop's international campaigns and corporate responsibility senior manager Jessie Macneil-Brown said: "We are calling on at least eight million people from every corner of the globe who care about animal welfare to join our cause and sign our petition.

“We will take this petition to the UN to call on them to support a global ban on animal testing in cosmetic products and ingredients.”

Cruelty Free's international chief executive officer (CEO) Michelle Thew said: “While more and more countries require non-animal safety tests and many have taken steps to prohibit cosmetics testing on animals, there is more work to be done.”

Initially, the beauty brand started a campaign in 1989 against cosmetic testing on animals, which later led to an EU-wide ban in 2013.

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Image: The Body Shop and Cruelty Free International campaign to end cosmetic product and ingredient animal testing globally once and for all. Photo: courtesy of PRNewsfoto/The Body Shop.