After approving nearly 30 different amendments in April to toughen the rules on cosmetics, the European Parliament on June 11, 2002, officially adopted language that bans the sale of animal-tested cosmetics throughout the 15-nation European Union. The ban will eventually apply to all cosmetics tested on animals, whether produced in Europe or in foreign countries.

Observers say the ban faces some tough opposition in the near future, both from the European Commission, which had already postponed attempts at a cosmetics ban, and from the World Trade Organization, which is likely to challenge the import rules that could hurt foreign cosmetics companies.

The European public had been asking for animal-testing bans for years, but only the United Kingdom, Austria and the Netherlands had instituted such laws (although the three still allow animal-tested cosmetics from other countries to be sold). Part of the problem lies with the European cosmetics industry, a $39 billion a year business which has been opposed to a sales ban and which has advocated that any ban on animal testing should be phased in while alternative methods are found.

The European Parliament clearly rejected such pleas. The 626 members of Parliament sought the toughest laws, saying that a simple banning of animal tests would have merely exported the practice to other countries outside the European Union.

The proposed regulations call for an immediate ban on the sale of new animal-tested cosmetics for which alternative methods already exist. All new products whose ingredients are tested on animals would be banned from EU stores within five years (the Parliament did stretch the deadline to ten years for three test areas—reproductive toxicity, toxicokinetics and repeat dose toxicity). The products include make-up, creams, shampoos, and shower gels.

The new regulations would also outlaw all animal testing on cosmetics in the European Union by December 31, 2004, while, in the meantime, instituting labeling that will inform consumers whether the product is animal-tested or not.

Animal protectionists consider the proposed sales ban of animal-testing cosmetics integral to significantly reducing the number of animals killed each year for the safety testing of cosmetics and personal care products. It has been estimated that 38,000 animals are used annually for this purpose in the EU.