On New Year’s Day a ban on the sales of cosmetics newly tested on animals went into effect in California, Illinois and Nevada. These three states are leading the country in what could be a nation-wide ban on all animal testing for cosmetics.
 
The Humane Cosmetics Act would end all animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients in the US and prohibit the import of cosmetics that have been tested on animals anywhere else in the world. The bill also prohibits companies from labeling products as cruelty-free if they are selling in China where animal-testing is still required.
 
No More Animal Cruelty

Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States commented, “With Humane Society International, we’ve driven this global momentum to end cosmetics testing in which substances are forced down the throats of animals, dripped into their eyes, or smeared onto their skin. The animals are left to suffer for days or weeks without pain relief. Most people do not want their beauty products to come at such great cost to innocent animals, and this has led to more and more consumers scanning labels on products to ensure they are cruelty-free. With thousands of ingredients having a history of safe use and an increasing number of non-animal test methods available to provide data more relevant to humans, often in less time and at a lower cost, companies can still create new and innovative cosmetics without any additional animal testing.”
 
The Humane Cosmetics Act bill was introduced in the US Senate in November, where it received bipartisan support.