Humane Society International (HSI) is collaborating with Swedish fashion retailer H&M on a new animal welfare pledge.
H&M will actively support HSI's global #BeCrueltyFree campaign through consumer advocacy, dialogue with key stakeholders and by supporting education programmes.
Troy Seidle, Director of HSI's Research and Toxicology department, said: "H&M must be commended for committing itself to our #BeCrueltyFree campaign's mission of achieving a global end to cosmetics animal testing. As a company that already eschews animal testing of its own cosmetics, H&M is now sending a strong message industry-wide that more needs to be done to end the suffering of animals in cosmetics tests. We are extremely excited to be embarking on this collaboration with such an influential industry partner."
HSI is also working with the retailer to ensure the welfare of animals used in wool, hair and down production. Madelene Ericsson, Sustainability Expert at H&M, said: "Animal welfare is important to us at H&M and we want to contribute to improved animal welfare practices in our industry, which is why we are committing ourselves not only to further improve our own requirements, but also to work collaboratively with HSI to elevate standards throughout the industry and globally. HSI is a globally recognised organisation with long experience within this area. We believe they will be a very good partner in pushing for change and we hope that other companies will be inspired to do likewise."
The news comes shortly after H&M announced the relaunch and extension of its range of own-brand cosmetics. Each product in the range abides by a strict no-animal-testing policy.