New York State Bans Cosmetics Industry from Animal Testing

While you were wrapping your holiday presents, Governor Kathy Hochul un-wrapped A Big One for hundreds of thousands of lab rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and other furry friends on December 15, when she signed the New York Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act.

The bill was sponsored by West Side Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal (D-67) and Bronx/Westchester Democratic State Senator Alessandra Biaggi

“Our bill,” Rosenthal says, “means that our stores will no longer be allowed to carry new products that are tested on animals, no matter where they were produced, whether here in the United States or internationally. As research and testing methodology has become more sophisticated through the use of human cells and computer modeling, there is no excuse to torture innocent animals for the sake of our vanity.”

In a time of polarized politics, Hochul’s signature on the dotted line drew cheers straight across the political spectrum from Senator Rand Paul to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). It also put New York’s anti-cruelty cosmetics policy in step with California, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, and Virginia.

But nationwide Americans are still late to the party. The United Kingdom banned animal testing of cosmetics 26 years ago. Ten years ago the European Union agreed, and similar bans are now in place in Israel, India, New Zealand and Australia. Better yet, some of these countries even prohibit importing animal-tested cosmetics. As a result, Rosenthal and Biaggi have called on Congress to pass a similar nationwide law in the USA. On the federal level, Congress has taken some steps in that direction in late December by passing the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, banning some animal testing in drug research although there is still no national law on that front involving cosmetics. While drug companies will still have the option to test experimental meds on animals it’s no longer required.

That doesn’t mean your meds will go untested. According to Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, FDA will simply swap “an archaic and debilitating government mandate for animal testing of experimental drugs,” for more modern methods advocated by the National Institution environmental health sciences’ Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM). The list includes computer modeling and “organs on a chip,” microchips that can mimic how your human tissues will react to specific chemicals.

Meanwhile, back at the American beauty bar, a plethora of well-known majors including Almay, Covergirl, Coty, L’Oréal and Revlon, are already cruelty free at home. Unfortunately, if they sell their products overseas, they are bound by foreign rules such as those in China which still require testing on animals before products can be sold to humans. One brand making waves by opting out of that lucrative market is Dermablend whose products are available at Macy’s and Walmart and online at Amazon as are most of the others listed on this PETA site: https://www.peta.org/living/personal-care-fashion/these-companies-dont-test-on-animals/

So, the next time ladies, when your mascara drips into your eyes – ouch--or guys when your after shave dribbles into your mouth--ick! -- think how many rabbits, Guinea pigs and mice that Rosenthal, Biaggi, and Hochul have spared those painful problems.

As they say Down Under, where cosmetic tests on animals have been banned since 2020, “Good on ya.”

Better yet: Good on us all.