India Moves Closer To Banning Household-Product Tests On Animals
For Immediate Release:
28 August 2013
Contact:
Ben Williamson +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 229; [email protected]
Dr Chaitanya Koduri +91 9189267382; [email protected]
London – PETA India has confirmed that a committee of the Chemical Division of the Bureau of Indian Standards – on which PETA India Science Policy Adviser Dr Chaitanya Koduri has an official seat – recently proposed to amend the test requirements for household products (such as cleaners and detergents) by getting rid of the last remaining animal test. The Soaps and Other Surface Active Agents Committee (CHD 25) suggests replacing a test on guinea pigs, used to determine the skin-sensitisation potential of chemicals, with a non-animal testing method called the Human Repeat Insult Patch Test. It also proposed that the manufacturers of novel ingredients submit safety data using non-animal testing methods. Members of the committee have now been asked to submit their comments. The move comes after the Drugs Controller General of India, Dr GN Singh, announced that testing cosmetics and their ingredients on animals will not be permitted in India following an intense PETA India campaign and efforts by MP Maneka Gandhi.
“Animal tests are cruel and unreliable. Non-animal testing methods are modern, humane and relevant to humans”, says PETA UK’s Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA India is now urging the government to implement a ban on the sale and marketing of cosmetics and household products if they have been tested on animals outside India.”
More than 1,300 companies around the world have banned all animal tests in favour of effective, modern non-animal tests, but many still choose to subject animals to painful tests in which substances are dripped into their eyes, smeared onto their abraded skin, sprayed in their faces or forced down their throats. Because of the vast physiological differences between humans and the animals used in these tests, the results are often misleading. The British government proposed a ban on household-product testing in 2011, and the UK has announced that it is consulting with companies, trade bodies and other interested parties to confirm a working proposal.
Copies of the documents showing the Indian officials’ support are available upon request. For more information about harmful animal testing, please visit PETA.org.uk.