05.19.14
Cruelty Free International says the Vietnamese Government has today confirmed that it will ban the use of the cruel Draize rabbit eye test for cosmetics. The deal was negotiated by Dr Nick Palmer, Cruelty Free International director of policy, at the conclusion of the successful alternatives training program funded by Cruelty Free International at the Institute of Drug Quality Control in Vietnam.
At a high-level meeting including key decision-makers Dr Nguyen van Loi of the Department of Drug Administration and Prof.Trinh Van Lau, chair of the Vietnam Pharmacopeia, it was agreed to expand cooperation with Cruelty Free International to move towards official validation of the humane alternative methods, according to Cruelty Free.
This will see the use of these replacements become mandatory for the eye testing that was traditionally done on rabbits, as well as development of alternatives not yet used in Vietnam such as human skin simulation. It was agreed that full validation of the non-animal method will be pressed ahead in the coming months and the old test will be prohibited thereafter.
“We are impressed by the commitment of the Vietnamese authorities to press forward and will work with them to spread modern non-animal approaches for cosmetics and other products across ASEAN,” said Palmer.
Cruelty Free International’s trailblazing initiative in Vietnam brings its goal of achieving an animal testing cosmetics ban in ASEAN a significant step closer. Cruelty Free International first recognized the opportunity to drive forward positive change for animals in the region when we identified that Vietnam had been using animal tests for cosmetics, unlike other ASEAN countries, but was ready for change. The ASEAN Cosmetics Directive closely resembles the European Union’s but with one important difference—it does not include the animal testing ban.
Following a series of high level meetings with senior decision-makers in Vietnam, Cruelty Free International was able to negotiate a programme to train government laboratories in modern techniques to test cosmetics which do not involve animal suffering, funded entirely by donations from Cruelty Free International’s supporters.
At a high-level meeting including key decision-makers Dr Nguyen van Loi of the Department of Drug Administration and Prof.Trinh Van Lau, chair of the Vietnam Pharmacopeia, it was agreed to expand cooperation with Cruelty Free International to move towards official validation of the humane alternative methods, according to Cruelty Free.
This will see the use of these replacements become mandatory for the eye testing that was traditionally done on rabbits, as well as development of alternatives not yet used in Vietnam such as human skin simulation. It was agreed that full validation of the non-animal method will be pressed ahead in the coming months and the old test will be prohibited thereafter.
“We are impressed by the commitment of the Vietnamese authorities to press forward and will work with them to spread modern non-animal approaches for cosmetics and other products across ASEAN,” said Palmer.
Cruelty Free International’s trailblazing initiative in Vietnam brings its goal of achieving an animal testing cosmetics ban in ASEAN a significant step closer. Cruelty Free International first recognized the opportunity to drive forward positive change for animals in the region when we identified that Vietnam had been using animal tests for cosmetics, unlike other ASEAN countries, but was ready for change. The ASEAN Cosmetics Directive closely resembles the European Union’s but with one important difference—it does not include the animal testing ban.
Following a series of high level meetings with senior decision-makers in Vietnam, Cruelty Free International was able to negotiate a programme to train government laboratories in modern techniques to test cosmetics which do not involve animal suffering, funded entirely by donations from Cruelty Free International’s supporters.