NEW DELHI: After banning animal-tested cosmetics on animals in the country, the Centre on Tuesday banned the import of such beauty products as well.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a gazette notification prohibiting the import of cosmetics tested on animals from Nov 13. No cosmetic that has been tested on animals after the commencement of the Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014 shall be imported’.
Israel and EU nations have already banned the sale and marketing of animal-tested cosmetics.
“This is a message to the whole world, that India will not tolerate blinding bunnies for shampoo, mascara and other ‘beauty’ products and this ruling now gives an upper hand to businesses who use superior, human-relevant, non-animal testing methods,” said PETA’s Science Policy Adviser, Dr Chaitanya Koduri. “We applaud the Ministry of Health for championing modern science,” he said.