Australian Senate Motion Calls for Complete Ban on Cosmetic Animal Testing - #BeCrueltyFree
On the 23rd of August 2018, the Australian Senate passed a cross-party motion urging the Government to fulfill its commitment to fully ban cruel animal testing for cosmetics - without exceptions. The motion was drafted alongside continued discussions between the Government and Humane Society International, which welcomed the initiative, together with its #BeCrueltyFree Australia campaign partner Humane Research Australia. The cross-party motion was co-sponsored by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Labor Senator Helen Polley, Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff, Senator Derryn Hinch, and Independent Senator Tim Storer.
Full media release available here: http://hsi.org.au/releases/ind....ex.php/2018/08/23/au
Motion wording:
(a) The Senate notes:
i) a Nexus Research poll on behalf of Humane Research Australia found most Australians oppose the use of animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients, and support a national ban on the sale of cosmetics tested on animals,
ii) nearly 40 countries around the world have already banned cosmetics animal testing and the sale or import of newly animal-tested cosmetics, including the world’s largest cosmetics markets the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, Israel, and India,
iii) there is strong cross-party support for a ban on cosmetics cruelty – the Australian Greens, the Australian Labor Party, the Centre Alliance, and Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party have all committed to a complete ban on animal testing for cosmetics, and the Government announced its own commitment during the 2016 election, and the Australian public and animal protection campaigners, including #BeCrueltyFree Australia, welcomed these commitments,
iv) the ban, as currently proposed in the Industrial Chemicals Bill 2017 and draft Industrial Chemicals (General) Rules 2018, should be strengthened to ensure that the ban fully prohibits the use of new data on cosmetic ingredients which are derived from animal tests, and
v) the 2017-18 Budget stated the Government would provide funding to implement its election commitment, and would “ban the use of new data on cosmetic ingredients which are derived from animal tests from 1 July 2018”; and
(b) urges the Federal Government to implement its election and Budget commitments to ban cosmetic testing on animals, and to ensure that no newly animal-tested cosmetic ingredients are introduced to the Australian market after the ban comes into effect.