EP wants tighter restrictions on testing cosmetics on animals
The European Parliament has rejected an amended Commission proposal banning the testing of cosmetics on animals but not the marketing of products which have been tested on animals. Amendments adopted in the plenary call for the proposed testing ban, but also for a ban on marketing. The ban should come into force immediately for ingredients where other validated testing methods exist, and five years after the adoption of the directive for all other ingredients agreed Parliament. The vote on 3 April followed an emotive debate on 2 April. German MEP Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, who prepared the report on the Commission's proposal began by expressing her disappointment with the new proposals. She noted that the proposals represent the seventh amendment to current legislation on the issue, but stressed that the ban proposed in the sixth amendment has still not come into effect. Speaking on behalf of the Industry Committee, Esko Seppänen regretted the fact that industry has been unable to produce an alternative to the testing of cosmetics on animals as quickly as Parliament would have liked. His committee is calling for a ban on animal testing and for earlier deadlines than proposed. Mr Seppänen acknowledged, along with several other MEPs that a ban on the marketing of products which have been tested on animals may conflict with WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules. Mrs Roth-Behrendt does not accept the Commission's position on this, and urged the Commission to be bolder. UK MEP Mel Read, whilst conceding that Mrs Roth-Behrendt's proposals may represent an infringement of WTO rules, argued that this objection rang very hollow in the week when the American President had rejected the Kyoto protocol. Replying to the debate, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Innovation, Erkki Liikanen, emphasised that the Commission is acting out of public health considerations and the desire to protect consumers, although compliance with international obligations is also important, he said. He called for industry to take a bigger role in developing alternatives to testing. He shared the objectives of Parliament of reducing pain and unnecessary suffering for animals and reminded MEPs that the intention behind the proposal was to ban testing at the 'earliest opportunity'. Meanwhile the UK's House of Lords has just appointed a committee to conduct an inquiry on issues respecting animals in scientific procedures in the United Kingdom. The inquiry will focus on present legislation, the effectiveness and justification for animal procedures, particularly in medicine, education, defence and product testing and the development and use of alternatives to animal procedures.