Why PETA US Is Changing Its No-Testing List Requirements
If you’ve ever bought cosmetics, bath products, makeup, or personal care items, you will have seen the Beauty Without Bunnies logo. Borne of a pioneering campaign launched by PETA US in the 1980s, Beauty Without Bunnies is a cruelty-free programme designed to provide consumers with information on companies that do and don’t test on animals. The list of certified companies has grown immensely over the years, from fewer than a dozen to a searchable online global database of more than 6,300 companies.
In the decades since its inception, companies from as far as the UK, Australia, and Europe have joined the programme. Now, due to testing requirements in the EU, companies that sell in some countries will not be eligible to be listed as cruelty-free.
The Conflict Between Chemicals and Cosmetics Regulations
The issue lies in the differing objectives of the EU’s Cosmetics Regulation and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the EU’s large-scale testing programme for industrial chemicals.
Cosmetics ingredient manufacturers are subject to numerous regulatory requirements, including REACH. While the Cosmetics Regulation aims to ensure the safety of products and ingredients by relying on human-relevant, non-animal tests, REACH mandates a prescribed list of test data, often requiring tests on animals.
This discrepancy has led to animal testing on cosmetic ingredients to comply with REACH, undermining the animal-test-free status of these products and creating a loophole that PETA has been fighting to close.
Implications for Cosmetics Manufacturers
The number of ingredients affected by testing decisions under REACH is growing, demanding that thousands of animals be force-fed substances for weeks or even months. As a result, companies are at risk of being involved in testing on animals – even if they don’t wish to be – because of the legislative requirements placed on suppliers of cosmetics ingredients.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult for compassionate companies to find an alternative source for or reformulate a product to eliminate any cosmetic ingredients tested on animals under the REACH.
Implications for Animal-Test-Free Listing
Historically, to be listed as animal-test-free by PETA US, a company or brand must submit a legally binding statement of assurance verifying that it and its ingredient suppliers don’t conduct, commission, pay for, or allow any tests on animals for ingredients, formulations, or finished products anywhere in the world, and won’t do so in the future.
Companies applying to the programme must also submit paperwork describing how they test their products, where they are sold, what kinds of products they offer, and what types of ingredients they use. PETA US also requires all companies to have agreements with their suppliers that no animal testing is done at any stage on any of the ingredients or raw materials they supply to the company for its products.
This robust process ensures animals are protected from the horrors of experimentation, and PETA will not compromise on its values. For a company to be listed as animal-test-free, it must take no part in animals being subjected to painful and cruel tests for any reason – that includes having to submit to archaic testing mandated by REACH.
Changes to the Listing Requirements
Given the troubling and changing landscape of regulatory requirements for cosmetics and personal care ingredients in the EU, PETA US’ Beauty Without Bunnies programme is undergoing a comprehensive review.
From now on, only companies that sell their products in the US, Canada, Germany, and India will be listed on crueltyfree.PETA.org. PETA entities in these countries accept applications for the cruelty-free designation and keep their own lists. PETA entities can communicate with those companies and be assured that their commitment to removing tests on animals from their supply chain remains intact.
PETA US will suspend its consideration of Beauty Without Bunnies programme applications from companies that sell their products exclusively in other countries until the REACH cosmetics loophole is closed.
As PETA US is changing the eligibility criteria for the new companies, companies currently on the Beauty Without Bunnies list will remain unaffected and retain their status so long as they remain compliant with the terms of the programme.
How You Can Help
Right now, millions of mice, fish, rats, rabbits and other animals are suffering in laboratories all over Europe and the UK, forced to ingest and inhale chemicals.
They need you to help PETA close the loophole that currently undermines the crucial cosmetics testing ban.
The future of cruelty-free cosmetics is at stake. Please sign our petition now, urging officials to use upcoming law revisions to protect and strengthen the cosmetics testing ban:
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