Although selling beauty products tested on animals is banned by European cosmetics regulations, it seems several major groups have not been following the rule. Indeed, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has reported products marketed in the UK bear the same name in China, a country where animal testing is required. Did these cosmetics enter the UK using data that contravene cosmetics regulations? The British government has commissioned an investigation.
Benefit, Clarins, Clinique, Dior, Estée Lauder, Gucci, Revlon, Caudalie… all these brands are now in the British government’s sights. Why is that so? They are suspected of having infringed the 2013 decree implementing the European regulations on cosmetics, which prohibits the marketing of beauty products in Europe whose safety has allegedly been demonstrated with animal tests, without informing consumers.
PETA United Kingdom has issued a warning signal by filing a complaint and launching a petition. As almost 15,000 people have signed, the government has announced it has ordered Trading Standards (the authority in charge of consumer rights protection) to shed light on these brands’ presumed guilt.
It is not the first time PETA has reported this type of fraud. In 2015, the organization’s American branch revealed nine cosmetics brands were guilty of the same crime.
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