Virginia Bans Animal Testing for Cosmetics

Talk about states being right. Virginia became the fourth US state to ban new cosmetics animal testing and sales of animal-tested cosmetics. Virginia joins three other states that already have similar laws on their books.

“We congratulate Virginia lawmakers including the primary bill sponsors, Senator Jennifer Boysko and Delegate Kaye Kory, as well as the residents of Virginia, for taking this compassionate step. And we thank Governor Northam for signing this bill into law,” said Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “We now urge other states to follow suit by working swiftly to end cosmetics animal testing and sales of animal-tested cosmetics on their soil at the earliest.”

In 2018 California became the first state to prohibit the sale of animal-tested cosmetics followed by Nevada and Illinois in 2019. Six other states, including New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, Hawaii, New York and Oregon, are considering similar bills to end cosmetics animal testing.

The New Jersey state Senate passed a bill 35-0, and it now awaits action from the state Assembly. In Maryland, too, the Senate voted 47-0 on a bill, which will soon be voted on by the House of Delegates. In Hawaii, bills have passed the Senate and House of Representatives and they are now being reviewed in crossover chambers.  The moves come as companies and countries abandon the practice. The Personal Care Products Council supports the federal Humane Cosmetics Act, a bill addressing cosmetics animal testing and imports. The Humane Society of the United States anticipates the bill will soon be reintroduced in the current Congress. 

Globally, efforts made by Humane Society International, its partners and others have resulted in 40 countries, including member states of the European Union, Australia, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey passing laws prohibiting or limiting cosmetics testing on animals. Even China has eliminated some testing for imported cosmetics.