Shopping in store to choose the right cosmetics product is a special kind of undertaking. There are a surplus of factors that play a part in that all-important final decision on what we spend our hard-earned money on. But there's one question that's coming to the forefront: Is what I'm buying cruelty-free? To help with this, and offer information about what's happening to our fury friends, we've put together an assortment of information, from research, testing and teaching procedures - or RTT - in New Zealand, to cosmetics testing abroad.
New Zealand's animal testing
In short: We can be proud that, as part of a massive global shift towards improving conditions for animals, domestic cosmetics testing on animals - for both products and ingredients - was banned in New Zealand 2015, with amendments made to the Animal Welfare Act. But there's a major reason why you'll still hear about animal testing in the country: not all animal testing, such as for vetinary research, biological research or teaching, was banned, just those related to cosmetics. Read on to know more.
The lowdown: While the information for RTT in 2018 will only be released by the New Zealand government via the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) towards the end of 2019, and the results of 2017 later this year, the annual report for 2016 offers both upsetting and uplifting estimates that we should definitely talk about. Why? In comparison to the record low of the previous year, the number of animals used for research, testing and teaching rose. To make matters worse, we’re likely to see an even greater rise in the number of animals in next year’s report.
Here's the quick facts you need to know:
- The number of animals tested on went up a distressing 13 per cent, with 254,454 animals – the majority of which were cows, sheep, fish, mice and birds – subjected to experimentation.
- On January 1st 2018 the Animal Welfare Act expanded their definition of ‘manipulation’ to animals to include ‘killing an animal for RTT on its body or tissues’ and ‘breeding animals that have greater risk of pain or distress’.
- These new inclusions will be accompanied by the addition of animals that ‘were bred for but not used in RTT’ – figures that, to date, have never been submitted.
But there's good news! Of the facilities who submitted data, many had adopted the internationally recognised principles known as the Three R’s: replacement (replacing animals with other alternatives), reduction (reducing the number of animals they use), and refinement (refining the methods they use to test on animals).
This meant that, compared to 2015, the number of animals returned to their owners or released to the wild had climbed pretty generously. And in happy reductions, the number of tests determined as ‘high impact’ (causing pain or stress) had decreased, with the majority of animals – almost 84 per cent of those in total - having no or minimal impact on them.
China's wrestle with cosmetics
In short: With booming domestic and global beauty industries (the latter growing at a regular 5 per cent per year over the last decade), China has firmly established itself as a cosmetics powerhouse. Suprisingly, for all of this, it has remained as one of the last countries with relatively unreformed rules and regulations regarding them. In fact, China actually still requires testing on animals for cosmetics by law. Read on for more information.
The lowdown: In January, Bloomberg reported that the Chinese Food and Drug Administration began vying for safer alternatives to animal testing in 2014, announcing it would look to educate and up-skill laboratories in alternative, friendlier methods – something that would reach its high point in September 2016 following the opening of a new lab, in collaboration with the United States-based Institute for In Vitro Sciences. The idea was that this new facility would train Chinese scientists in methods like reconstructing skin cells at the Zhejiang Institute for Food and Drug Control.
Today, the Chinese law requiring cosmetics testing on animals applies to what are termed ‘special use’ products by China’s Chemical Inspection and Regulation Service - including hair growth serums, hair dye, deodorants and whitening products - and all cosmetics from foreign companies. No small amount, right?
Luckily, the nation's is making a shift, if only at a slow pace. As recently as June this year, China met to discuss a new scheme with non-profit organisation Cruelty Free International, in partnership with Knudsen&Co and Fengupu Industrial Park, to allow current cruelty-free brands to make and sell their cosmetics in China. Though no further details have been released, it’s another stride that could definitely pave the way towards concrete change in the countries animal welfare laws – and its whopping multi-billion dollar cosmetics and skincare market.
The global movement
In short: In 2015, New Zealand gave us the warm and fuzzies by joining the twenty-eight member states of Europe, the first countries to establish a prohibition against cosmetics testing on animals, as well as Israel, Norway, India, Brazil and South Korea, who implemented similar restrictions. Today, more countries have joined in on cruelty-free practices. Read below for more information.
The lowdown: At present, Australia, Switzerland, Guatemala and Taiwan have also banned different kinds of cosmetics testing (mainly safety testing, testing methods for finished cosmetic products and cosmetic ingredients), with Canada and Argentina introducing brand new legislations, and the U.S. bringing The Humane Cosmetics Act into the House of Representatives.
Despite this, change in other areas of animal testing around the world isn't so black and white because it's difficult to gauge exact global estimates on animal testing more generally, primarily because of excluded statistics or unavailable information.
Japan, for example, holds each facility, pharmaceutical or otherwise, responsible for its own self-regulation. What does this mean? Since facilities get to oversee their own surveys, they also don't have to do them. In other words, they're optional.
Similarly, the U.S., according to a leading brand for the prevention of cruelty against animals, the Lush Prize study into animal testing, does not have to disclose the number of tested mice, rats, birds, amphibians or reptiles. This left a huge chasm in 2012 between the national figure and its truer estimate – 1.1 million animals, as opposed to roughly 22 million.
Try these cruelty-free brands:
The Body Shop
Weleda
Nude by Nature
LUSH
jane iredale Mineral Makeup
INIKA Organic
Acure
Dr. Hauschka
Designer Brands
Arbonne
A'kin
Innoxa
Suvana Organic
Australis Cosmetics
Covergirl
Sukin
For more information, or to get involved in helping end cruelty to animals, visit SAFE For Animals or The New Zealand Animal Testing Society (NZAVS).
This article originally appeared on beautyheaven.
