PETA US has accused nine leading cosmetics brands of breaking European law by selling products in both the UK and China. The animal rights group is asking the government to investigate Benefit, Bliss, Caudalie, Clarins, Clinique, Dior, Estée Lauder, Gucci and Revlon for a potential breach of the 2013 EU Cosmetics Products Enforcement Regulation.
Chinese law dictates that cosmetics products sold in the region must be tested on animals, so any product also sold in this market potentially breaks the regulations now in place across the EU.
PETA has sent a dossier of evidence to Attorney General Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove MP and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Sajid Javid MP. The group is also asking consumers to add their name to an open letter addressed to the three officials demanding a full investigation.
Mimi Bekhechi, Director of PETA, said: “We have documentation that these companies are selling products by the same name in both China, where they have been tested on animals, and in the UK. Fractions of the cosmetics industry are currently embroiled in a legal row with the UK government in an attempt to render the marketing ban of animal-tested cosmetics as meaningless. Once this case is resolved – if not before – PETA is calling on government officials to investigate and take action to ensure that the Cosmetics Regulation is not being blatantly flouted.”
In August last year, former MAC spokesperson and PETA activist Pamela Anderson wrote an open letter to Estée Lauder, criticising MAC’s presence in China because of its animal testing laws. She said the sale of MAC products in the region “tainted the brand and alienated many of the company’s allies”.
At the time, Estée Lauder admitted that its products were still being tested on animals in China, but the company stated that it was still committed to ending the practice and was encouraging the use of alternatives globally. In a statement it said: “We do not test our products or ingredients on animals, or ask others to test on our behalf, except where required by law.”
A number of cosmetics brands have pulled out of the Chinese market due to its animal testing laws. Dermalogica, Urban Decay, Nature’s Gate, The Body Shop and Lush Cosmetics all currently refuse to sell their products in the region.
