Once again, the Liberal government has promised to ban cosmetic animal testing and the sale of animal-tested cosmetics. This commitment is found in the new federal budget released on March 28, 2023.
Here is what the budget says:
The government proposes to amend the Food and Drugs Act to ban cosmetic testing on animals. The proposed amendments would prohibit: testing cosmetics on animals in Canada; selling cosmetics that rely on animal testing data to establish the product’s safety, with some exceptions; and false or misleading labelling pertaining to the testing of cosmetics on animals.
Banning Cosmetic Testing on Animals In Budget 2023
This is a critically important step, one that we are grateful to see – one that makes us hopeful.
However, this is just a promise, not legislation.
So now our real work begins – making the government’s promise a reality.
It’s good news that this initiative has been included in the budget. It elevates the government’s promise to implement the ban. However, we need to apply as much pressure as possible, respectfully, to get the job done.
We are well positioned to apply that pressure as we are part of a broad coalition of stakeholders including the cosmetic industry and its member companies, retailers and animal protection advocates.
But we need your help. We cannot do it without you.
Please contact the Minister of Health. Thank him for making this commitment and urge him, strongly and respectfully, to pass legislation as per the commitment in the budget.
You and I have been here before – so close to success – only to see it disappear. So let’s push for actual change for the animals. We must keep up the pressure to get this done, to remind our Prime Minister and the Minister of Health that Canadians have been waiting, and so have the animals.
Let’s urge them to table legislation as quickly as possible.
Please, spare two minutes to express your concerns to the political leaders involved with this bill.
Phone them today and ask “when can we expect to see cruelty-free cosmetics legislation, as described in the Budget Bill?”
Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau: 613-992-4211
Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos: 613-992-8865
Other talking points:
- Cruelty-free cosmetics are becoming the global mainstream. Major markets including the EU, Australia, Colombia, Israel and New Zealand have already enacted comparable restrictions. Multinational companies such as Unilever and Proctor & Gamble are advancing similar measures, including in Canada. Yet, to our national shame, Canada lags behind.
- Modern non-animal methods are available for the most cosmetic safety issues, and have been shown to better predict human responses in the real-world than the animal tests they replace.
- Cruelty-free brands like Lush, Dove and Herbal Essences create innovative new products safely using modern non-animal tests in combination with existing ingredients with established histories of safe use.
Thank you for your compassion and activism.
