Victory: India Ends All Animal Testing for Cosmetics Following PETA India Campaign

LUSH, The Body Shop, and Members of Indian Parliament Among Those Who Joined PETA in Calling for End to Cruel and Ineffective Animal Tests

For Immediate Release:
June 28, 2013

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Delhi — After an extensive PETA India campaign—which included appeals from high-profile politicians and multinational retailers such as LUSH and The Body Shop as well as lengthy discussions with PETA India’s scientists—the drug controller general of India announced today that testing cosmetics and their ingredients on animals will not be permitted in India. This decision comes on the heels of recently enacted bans on cosmetics testing on animals in the European Union and Israel.

“The end to cruel and unreliable cosmetics tests on animals in India is a victory for animals and science—and the ban’s compliance with international standards will improve trade avenues for our country,” says PETA India’s science policy adviser, Dr Chaitanya Koduri, who has a seat on India’s Cosmetics Sectional Committee and met privately with the country’s drug controller general earlier this week to discuss the ban. “PETA India looks forward to working with the government on the next step: a ban on testing household cleaners and similar products in India.”

During cosmetics tests, harsh chemicals are dripped into rabbits’ eyes, smeared onto animals’ abraded skin, or forced down their throats. More than 1,200 companies around the world—including LUSH and The Body Shop as well as Urban Decay, Paul Mitchell, and Tom’s of Maine—have joined PETA’s list of companies that use only modern and reliable non-animal tests for their products.

For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com.

#