PETA Meets Members of European Parliament to Discuss Tests on Animals

Posted by on March 28, 2019 | Permalink

On 28 March, PETA Science Policy Adviser Dr Julia Baines spoke at a meeting of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals, a forum for debating animal-related issues.

She discussed the use of animals for cosmetics testing under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation, the EU’s chemical testing programme – a shameful practice that appears to violate the animal testing ban enshrined in the EU Cosmetics Regulation.

You can watch a video of the meeting here – and make sure animals’ voices are heard by tweeting using the hashtags #CloseTheDoorOnAnimalTesting and #EUCosmeticsCruelty.

Dr Baines urged Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who are key decision-makers, to hold the European Commission and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) accountable for tearing to pieces the ban on animal testing for cosmetics.

Currently, the Commission and ECHA take the position that experimenters may still force-feed shampoo ingredients to rats for weeks or months – causing sickness, convulsions, weight loss, and death – and dose pregnant rabbits with face-cream ingredients to see whether their newborns will be deformed. The reality of testing cosmetics ingredients on animals is appalling.

So far, around 200,000 people have signed action alerts launched by PETA and our affiliates in France, Germany, and the Netherlands urging the Commission and ECHA not to allow cosmetics ingredients to be tested on animals under any circumstances.

It’s vital that policymakers, legislators, authorities, and parliamentarians unite in their efforts to uphold the ban on animal testing for cosmetics ingredients.

Now’s the Crucial Time to Use Your Voice

European Parliament elections are just around the corner, and for MEPs, public opinion is a crucial factor in driving change. Please help us demonstrate the power of public opposition to cruelty by calling on the Commission and ECHA to uphold the law by never allowing tests on animals for cosmetics ingredients, no matter the circumstances.

Send them a message now:

Please also speak out about tests on animals on Twitter:

And watch our meeting with MEPs here: