Shiseido stops animal testing for cosmetics

Cosmetics manufacturing company Shiseido said it was planning to stop cosmetics testing on animals, in a bid to toe the line of the European Union’s latest decision to ban the sale of such products later this month.

The firm said the new policy, which starts from April, applies to all of the Tokyo-based cosmetic production sites, including those run by suppliers.

Shiseido said there would be some exceptions in the policy, which would still allow animal testing when that was the only way of proving the safety of products already being sold in the market, and in some countries where animal testing is legally necessary.

A Shiseido spokesperson was quoted by the website chinapost.com as saying that "Our business partners that supply material to us will not rely on animal testing, while we will no longer outsource such testing to outside labs."

For most of the years activists have pressurised cosmetic firms and other companies that use animal testing to look for alternatives to the practice, which they termed as cruel and unnecessary.

Shiseido, in March 2010, declared its intentions to stop testing on animals if it it could ensure product safety.

In 2011, the firm, which has banned animal testing at its own labs, is set to enforce a ban on the import and sale of animal-tested cosmetic products from later this month.

Shiseido, in an attempt to fulfill the new move, has introduced a new safety evaluation structure.

As per the structure, it will use artificial skin and a raw materials safety data base when testing skin-related factors such as absorbency and irritation.

The company said even without conducting experiments on animals, it can now deliver a accurate human safety assessment..