EU timetables end of animal testing
proposed reduction in the testing of animals in personal care
products as well as stringent new labelling regulations to prove
compliance.
In an official statement, the Commission said,<>i>"The fight against animal testing gets more concrete," as it published an action programme that follows on from its 3Rs concept, aiming to refine, reduce and replace animal testing.
The label 'not tested on animals' will enable industry to indicate that it is has complied with the new EU regulations in the development and production of their personal care products, regulations that are expected to become obligatory by 2009 at the latest.
Such labelling has to testify to the complete absence of animal testing at any stage of the development or production of the product. This applies to both the finished product and the ingredients themselves.
"The European Partnership is an important contribution to find alternatives to animal testing," said European Commission vice president, Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy.
"We are now moving from words to deeds. I invite more companies to join our common efforts to reduce the number of animals used in safety testing in areas such as REACH and cosmetics," he added.
The European Commission has been working closely with industry, mainly through Colipa, to ensure that animal testing of personal care products is completely eradicated. The move is in response to calls from both lobby groups and consumers to eradicate the practice.
The biggest challenge this has thrown up to industry is to find alternative methods to tried and tested methods on animals. Tests that, for example, determine eye sensitivity, have been particularly hard to replicate, given that the development of alternative laboratory tests takes time.
The action programme covers five topics and also outlines the Commission's commitment to co-operation within the industry in fields such as research, validation, alternative test methods and sharing best practice.
Those five topics include mapping of the 3R activities, the promotion of future research, the best practice implementation of the 3Rs, the implementation of the 3Rs in decision making and the validation and acceptance of alternative test methods.
The Commission says that currently approximately 20 per cent of the tests carried out on animals are considered to be regulatory testing. But the biggest challenge is to find alternatives that ensure the same level of consumer safety.
The new law banning the testing of cosmetics on animals was first enforced in 2003 and was aimed specifically at ingredients. The next step will be to outlaw the testing of finished cosmetics products, which is now mooted for 2009. In the meantime a handful of complex tests have received an extension to 2013 before viable alternatives can be found.
A major benefit of the drive to ban animal testing is the fact that it could end up saving European industries - including the cosmetics industry - significant amounts in research and development costs.
According to estimates from the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the scheme should save up to 1.9 million animals and up to £1.1bn in costs over an 11 year period.
The Commission says that currently 23 alternative methods have been validated in Europe and about 30 others are under validation in the European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods.
The next update on the action program is expected to be made public on 18 December, during the European Partnership Conference in Brussils when expert groups will make their latest progress public.
