The federal government has finally made a move to advance a cosmetics animal testing ban in Canada. In their Budget 2023, presented on March 28, the government proposes to amend the Food and Drugs Act to ban cosmetic testing on animals. “The proposed amendments would prohibit: testing cosmetics on animals in Canada; selling cosmetics that rely on animal testing data to establish the product’s safety, with some exceptions; and false or misleading labelling pertaining to the testing of cosmetics on animals.”
Cosmetics Alliance is thrilled to share this long-awaited development with our members! CA and our allied stakeholder group issued the attached statement yesterday in support of the government’s announcement.
As members are well aware, CA has been working for many years to advance legislation to ban cosmetics animal testing in Canada. Our goal has always been to two-fold: 1. to entrench in legislation what is in fact the practical reality – that testing cosmetics on animals is virtually non-existent in Canada today, and 2.to put the issue to rest once and for all – as cosmetics have always been an easy target and unfairly attacked in the media and by NGOs with an outdated and misleading narrative.
After this issue was raised in Parliament through a Private Member’s Bill in the Senate in 2015, CA connected with Cruelty Free International and The Body Shop (their retailer partner) to discuss a framework for workable legislation. Soon after Humane Society International/Canada and Animal Alliance Canada reached out to CA with interest in joining the discussion. Our group of stakeholders became allies and continued to meet frequently to build a collaborative relationship and establish a consensus for workable legislation. This consensus is based on the following principles:
- Building blocks of a Canadian ban on cosmetic animal testing align with the principles of the European Union ban as well as work within the context of the Canadian regulatory framework; and
- Health Canada draft the necessary legislative/regulatory amendments to ensure that they are administratively workable, do not result in unintended consequences, and are ultimately supported by the Government.
We now eagerly await the wording of the proposed legislation to ensure it is aligned with the E.U. ban and workable within the Canadian regulatory context (including the Self Care Framework).
Importantly, Canada – through the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods (CCAAM) at the University of Windsor – will be hosting the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC12) which is being held on August 23 – 27, 2023, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. CA’s own Beta Montemayor participates on the Canadian Organizing Committee for the WC12 conference!
Cosmetics Alliance, our allied organizations, and many other stakeholders will be participating in this important international event. As Government officials will also be in attendance, CA believes there is no better opportunity to showcase Canada as a leader in the development of animal testing alternatives and the banning of unnecessary animal testing on cosmetic products. As such, we are encouraging the government to pass legislation by this time to avoid any potential embarrassment.
On a related matter, Chinese regulations require unnecessary animal testing on imported cosmetic products unless they are accompanied by a government issued GMP certificate. CA has expressed our disappointed to Health Canada that they have so far refused to create the export certificate needed to exempt Canadian manufactured cosmetics exported to China from China’s unnecessary animal testing requirements. Their lack of action appears to contradict the commitment made by government in Budget 2023 to eliminate cosmetics animal testing as well as in the Bill S-5 (CEPA modernization) to reduce the use of animals in safety testing.
To further assist our advocacy efforts on this file, Darren will be speaking at Humane Canada’s May 2023 Summit for Animals in Victoria, B.C. This is an opportunity to showcase our industry’s efforts in this area and share how we were able to effectively collaborate with animal protection advocates that historically were our foes rather than the allies they are today.
