EU Court Official Supports the Destruction of The Cosmetics Marketing Ban

Statement by Dr Julia Baines, PETA UK, in response to Advocate General Michal Bobek’s opinion that cosmetics products and ingredients that have been tested on animals outside the EU may be placed on the EU market

Shame on the European Federation for Cosmetic Ingredients and on Advocate General Michal Bobek for effectively destroying the EU marketing ban. It is unconscionable that the same cosmetics ingredients which are injected into guinea pigs, forced down the throats of rats or dripped into rabbits’ eyes in countries such as China will now also be permitted in cosmetics on the EU market.

Bobek’s advice flouts the intention of the Cosmetics Regulation, which was to ensure the safety of cosmetics products and ingredients using only humane, non-animal methods. If the court judges follow his disgraceful advice, it also means that consumers who assume that products purchased within the EU are cruelty-free will be misled, since companies will be allowed to market and even label products as cruelty-free, even when, in reality, their production caused animal suffering.

PETA urges the court to uphold the purpose of the very popular Cosmetics Regulation by ensuring that cosmetics ingredients manufactured and marketed in Europe are never tested on animals under any circumstances anywhere in the world.