EU agrees to ban animal testing on cosmetics from 2009

A deal to ban the use of animals to test cosmetics in Europe was agreed yesterday after fraught negotiations between MEPs and governments.

The EU also agreed to outlaw the sale of new cosmetics tested on animals.

The ban, which will come into effect in 2009, was described as a breakthrough by MEPs who voted for the sales ban earlier this year against the will of most EU governments.

Chris Davies, a Liberal Democrat MEP who was part of the European Parliament's negotiating team, said he was pleased with the "incredible climbdown" by Britain, which had argued against a ban on sales of animal-tested cosmetics on the ground that it would contravene world trade rules.

"For too long the cosmetics industry has dragged its feet and refused to make the commitment necessary to develop alternatives to animal testing," he said. "Now the law will be clear. Bathroom shelves are already packed with shampoos, deodorants and face creams and we do not need any more if the price to be paid is continuing animal suffering."

An exemption to the sales ban until 2013 was introduced for products that have been tested using any of three methods for which, the cosmetics industry argues, the alternative tests are insubstantial. In reaction to the exemption, animal welfare groups accused the industry of "sabotaging the best hope of protection lab animals had against cruel tests".

Wendy Higgins, of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, said: "Without a total and immediate sale ban, animals will continue to die outside Europe so that the products can be sold inside Europe."

The Independent reported this week that a leaked memo revealed the multinational company Procter & Gamble was planning to side-step an EU animal-testing ban by conducting its experiments outside Europe.