Taiwan has become the second major market in Southeast Asia to take a stand against cosmetics cruelty with a vote last week to ban animal testing in the beauty industry. With this new policy, more than 1.7 billion consumers in 34 global markets have directly felt the effects of Humane Society International’s #BeCrueltyFree campaign.
The #BeCrueltyFree Taiwan campaign, a partnership between Humane Society International and the Taiwan SPCA, played a decisive role in securing this victory. Photo by iStockphoto
The approved legislation, which goes into effect in 2019, will amend Taiwan’s Control for Cosmetic Hygiene Act and ban cosmetic animal testing for both finished products and cosmetic ingredients. Taiwan now joins the likes of the European Union, Norway, Israel, India, New Zealand, Turkey, and South Korea in ending the cruel practice of blinding, poisoning, and killing animals in the name of beauty. The vote also reflects growing public opinion worldwide that shows overwhelming support for global bans on cosmetics animal testing and for decisive action to replace it with non-animal alternatives.
Animal welfare advocates have been working for decades to end the testing of makeup and personal care products on animals. The #BeCrueltyFree Taiwan campaign, a partnership between HSI and the Taiwan SPCA, played a decisive role in securing this victory. Representatives from both these organizations worked closely with bill sponsors, legislators Wang YuMin and Zhuang Rui Xiong, along with key government ministries to advance the legislation. We gained the support of Taiwanese celebrities and launched innovative campaign strategies such as creating an educational video cartoon to play in taxi cabs across Taipei to harness public support for the ban.
This is significant progress, but much work remains. Although this victory in Taiwan is an important step in the growing international movement away from animal testing of cosmetics, Taiwanese consumers will still be able to buy cosmetics cruelly tested on animals if the product is imported from other countries. #BeCrueltyFree Taiwan will continue to campaign for an end to the import and sale of newly animal tested cosmetics.
Legislation to both end cosmetics animal testing and the sale of newly animal-tested cosmetics is pending in numerous countries around the globe, including the United States, Canada, and Brazil. We hope this victory in Taiwan, and a recent pledge by the Australian government to end cosmetics cruelty by July 2017, will inspire legislatures around the globe to show similar leadership and put a swift end to cosmetics cruelty worldwide.
You can help us by signing the petition to stop the sale of beauty products tested on animals, and joining our Facebook community. If you live outside the United States, sign our international petition or find us on Facebook. You can also join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #BeCrueltyFree.
The post Breaking news: Taiwan votes to end cosmetics animal testing appeared first on A Humane Nation.
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