Animal Testing in the EU

A ban on animal testing on finished cosmetic products has been in place throughout the EU since 11 September 2004.

A ban on animal testing on ingredients or combination of ingredients in cosmetics has been in place throughout the EU since 11 March 2009.

Since 11 March 2013, throughout the EU, there has been a complete ban on the sale of any cosmetic product and their ingredients that have involved animal testing, even if the animal testing was carried out in a country outside of the EU.

Therefore within the EU, you will not be able to purchase any cosmetic product that has been tested on animals.

As Animal Testing on finished products and their respective ingredients has been banned in the EU since 2009 this should not be a problem.  Any supplier will be able to provide you with a statement confirming they do not test on animals.

Our statement can be downloaded here.

In fact the claim "Not Tested on Animals" is now obsolete under the EU Cosmetic Product Regulations (EC) No 1223/2009.  

As it is a legal requirement that cosmetics sold in the EU are not tested on animals, this type of claim would be seen as misleading and should be avoided - according to Roman Mokry, Policy Officer at the European Commissoin.