Brussels, 10/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's Committee on the Environment called, on 23 May, for an immediate ban on the sale of new cosmetic products tested on animals if other valid testing methods were available, and for this ban to be followed up five years later by a total ban on all sales of any new cosmetic products tested on animals. The members of the parliamentary committee also took a stance in favour of a ban on animal testing for end 2004. If, on 11 June, the plenary follows the environmental committee, the matter will almost certainly come under conciliation procedure as the Council has, in its common position on the proposal modifying the "cosmetics" directive, abandoned the idea of a ban on testing and also a ban on sales.
With the adoption of the recommendation presented by Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (PES, Germany), the MEPs translated the concerns expressed by a large majority of the public which is opposed to allowing animals to suffer to contribute to the perfection of products they consider superfluous. They mainly considered that the approach consisting of allowing the industry more time in which to finalise alternative testing methods has given no result and that it is therefore reasonable to establish a total ban on animal testing, which should give significant impetus to the fine-tuning of replacement methods. This very clear stance that is largely shared by the parliamentary committee causes great concern for the industrial sector on the eve of the plenary session. A spokesperson for Colipa, the European cosmetics lobby, confirmed this fear to Agence EUROPE, stressing that the association she represents may agree to the principle of a ban on testing but that, in reality, it would not be certain that it could keep its commitments as the state of science in this respect is determining. She went on to cite the example of an alternative testing method concerning eye irritation on which research has lasted five years without giving conclusive results.
In order to prevent animal testing being relocated in third countries, the environment committee also decided that a Community ban should be backed by compulsory labelling of products and components tested on animals. According to MEPs, measures should also be taken to guarantee that products tested on animals are no longer placed on the Community market after a given date and as a provisional measure until establishment of a total sales ban, to provide for cosmetics tested on animals to be clearly labelled with the indication "tested on animals". Furthermore, they support the ban on using cosmetics containing carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic substances, except if they are proved to be safe. Also, in order to avoid allergies to scents, they consider the use of perfumes must be banned in all products for children, such as baby cream and shampoo, but also in personal hygiene products such as sanitary towels, toilet paper and tampons. Some of these amendments, mainly those on labelling, have been rejected by the industry.