(17th October, 2014); Health Ministry announced the prohibition of import of cosmetics tested on animals just after few months of banning use of cosmetics tested on animals in country. And with this step India become the first country in south Asia for taking this actions.
The notification, G.S.R. 718 (E), came on 13th october states that, "135-B. Prohibition of import of cosmetics tested on animals. - No cosmetic that has been tested on animals after the commencement of the Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014 shall be imported into the country."
“With today’s historic ban on the import of newly animal-tested cosmetics, India has made history for animals in South Asia. This is a huge achievement that could not have been possible without the compassion of our government, consumers and industry", said Alokparna Sengupta, Humane Society International/India’s Be Cruelty-Free campaigns manager on this occassion.
Alokparna Sengupta also added that, "We feel confident that if this vision is applied to other areas of product testing, this can be a defining moment in the modernization of India’s safety science, with potentially hundreds of thousands more animals spared pain and suffering.”
Gauri Maulekhi, Trustee, People for Animals, a Be Cruelty-Free India partner, said: “India has shown outstanding leadership by so swiftly advancing first a ban on cosmetics animal testing and now a ban on animal-tested cosmetics imported from overseas. By working so diligently with the Be Cruelty-Free India campaign, our policy makers have put India on the map as a country transforming its laboratories and regulation from outdated test methods to state-of-the-art science. Animals, consumers, scientists and companies have everything to gain from such modernization.”
India’s dual test and import ban mirrors that of the European Union and is the latest victory in a string of achievements for the Be Cruelty-Free campaign globally. Earlier this year, Be Cruelty-Free campaigners in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States all celebrated the introduction of bills proposing national cosmetic animal test bans.
