Loopholes in the EU ban on animal testing

[Catherine]

I know it is a great thing that the EU has banned animal testing of cosmetics. It is a victory. However it seems that there are loopholes and some products are still tested on animals.
They just don't do it in Europe.

It seems that China has different rules(or lack of them) when it comes to animals. To access the Chinese market, companies must comply with Chinese rules. That means tests are done on animals in China.
So when these companies are claiming to be cruelty free, they mean we are cruelty free at home. It is a deception on their part and many people will be upset to hear about it.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...stm&at=dt0

I am glad to see that the company I mostly buy products from, does not sell to the Chinese market because of this situation.
I am glad I bought local home made soap from a small business. Excuse me while I go and throw a couple of things in the garbage.

[LPC]

Yes, this fact is not widely known by the public in the EU. Unfortunately the EU cannot control animal protection laws (or rather, the lack of them in China and other countries). Also unfortunately, western companies are keen to keep their substantial sales in China and so put profits before welfare.

We can certainly vote with our feet (or more correctly, withdrawing our handbags/wallets), but the problem remains about China insisting on animal testing for products sold in its own country. Only petitions and publicity campaigns will get this stopped.

[Catherine]

Quote:We can certainly vote with our feet (or more correctly, withdrawing our handbags/wallets), but the problem remains about China insisting on animal testing for products sold in its own country. Only petitions and publicity campaigns will get this stopped.

The situation keeps coming back to animal welfare in China. Until they have proper laws to protect animals there will be trouble in so many ways.
The fact that they insist on animal testing forces the rest of us to be involved in animal testing. I don't even know if boycotting China is possible. So many things have some level of Chinese connection.

I don't know what the UE can do. Most of them can't avoid the Chinese market. Maybe they need to only use ingredients that don't require testing because they are so safe.

[LPC]

I'm not sure, but I think that the Chinese insist on everything being tested before being sold. The best we can do is buy from companies which refuse to market cosmetics in China (there are some, but not many).

[Catherine]

I noticed that The Body Shop does not sell to China because they are dedicated to not testing on animals. They were way ahead of other stores. They have been around for over 30 years and they have never tested on animals. That was their uniqueness back when they were first opened. That is also the place I shop. They refer to their products as Vegan so they don't test on animals and they do not use any animal sources for their products.
We need to reward companies like that for their integrity. I buy all my Christmas presents there as well. So few companies make a stand against animal testing and actually mean it.