In a move that has been hailed as great progress by animal welfare groups, the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill banned the use of animals for testing cosmetic products.
A law banning the same was implemented in the UK in 1997.
The bill reads that animals, like humans, must now be recognised as sentient beings - as they are capable of feeling pain and distress.
Chair of the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee Dr Virginia Williams said: ‘The explicitness is what is new and marks another step along the animal welfare journey.’
In the UK, it has been illegal to test cosmetic products on animals since 1997 however up until 2013 you could still buy cosmetic products that were tested on animals (just those products were not tested in the UK). The EU outlawed it two years ago.
When we spoke to Peta UK, they gave us this comment:
‘While cosmetics testing on animals has been banned in the UK since 1997, the ingredients of household products like air fresheners and washing-up liquids may still be tested on animals.
'Animals have chemicals applied to their skin, injected into their bodies, dripped into their eyes or forced down their throats via a tube. This can cause vomiting, tremors, organ failure, paralysis and even death.'
‘In these tests, animals have chemicals applied to their skin, injected into their bodies, dripped into their eyes or forced down their throats via a tube. This can cause vomiting, tremors, organ failure, paralysis and even death.
‘Readers wishing to help put an end to these painful experiments can take action here by writing to the Home Office minister responsible for animal experiments and asking for a complete ban on the testing of household product ingredients on animals.
'Although companies can’t sell animal-tested cosmetics in Europe, they can continue to test cosmetics on animals outside Europe and sell them in other markets. Therefore, companies can still profit from cruelty to animals – just not in Europe.
'This is particularly important because many large emerging markets, such as China, are demanding that cosmetics be tested on animals. Because of this, the only way to be completely sure that you aren’t indirectly supporting animal testing is to continue to purchase products only from companies that don’t test on animals. Check out our page on making cruelty-free choices for more information.'