From hair colour to lipstick and shampoos to eyeliners, the imported range of cosmetics will soon have to declare that they are free of animal tests.
The Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) has recommended to the Union Health Ministry that a provision be introduced in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to ban the import of cosmetics tested on animals.
India has already committed to phase out animal tests in locally-made cosmetics, and the Health Ministry is in the process of putting in place the final framework.
Once the recommendation is implemented, India will join developed markets such as the European Union that banned the import, manufacture and sale of cosmetics tested on animals in March 2013. Last month, China’s Food and Drug Administration said it would relax mandatory animal test requirements for its locally made cosmetic products from June next year.
Campaigners for cruelty-free products say animals such as rabbits and mice are put through painful tests to produce new lipsticks, shampoos and mascara, etc. Cosmetic-makers counter that, saying products were tested on animals in the interest of safety.
Increasingly, though, large companies are opting out of testing on animals, as alternative testing methods are accepted by regulators.
Alternatives "L'Oreal no longer tests on animals any of its products or ingredients anywhere in the world. Nor do we delegate this task to others,” says a spokesperson of L'Oreal India, the local arm of the French cosmetics giant L'Oreal SA. “We, therefore, do not see any business impact of this decision by the government on us. We currently import approximately 20 percent of our products." According to Deepak Bhandari, marketing director with US-based cosmetics-company Revlon Inc, unbranded cosmetics from places like China may face difficulties.
“In any case, there is a registration process with the drug authorities before items are imported and this plugs the loop holes. The move is more towards creating consciousness about animal testing by certain groups. At Revlon, 35 per cent of our cosmetics are imported and we do not believe animal testing is ethical and is not a part of our business philosophy,'' adds Bhandari.
Another company official says Revlon doesn’t conduct animal testing and had not done so since 1989. “We comprehensively test all of our products using the most technologically advanced methods available to ensure they are both innovative and safe to use.” In fact, Revlon supports the advancement of non-animal testing alternatives and methodologies in the industry, the official adds.
Drug rules The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules covers about 29 products, points out Alokparna Sengupta of Humane Society International (India), a group campaigning globally for cruelty-free products. When the rules are implemented, compassionate consumers will not have to worry about the cosmetics they pick up in the country. And scientists, too, will be encouraged to think beyond the orthodox methods of research, she adds.
According to Samrath Bedi, Executive Director of Mountain Valley Springs India (makers of the luxury ayurveda brand of Forest Essentials), the animal test ban was to do with the raw materials, where larger companies were involved. “It’s a cruel action and while it has been the norm for certain companies, they might have been forced to stop it now.'' The process is under way to convert the DTAB’s recommendation into the final framework that companies will have to abide by. And in doing so, India will be taking a lead in the region, a Health Ministry official says.