The Estée Lauder Companies Partners With Humane Society to End Global Animal Testing
Following in the footsteps of other big-name beauty manufacturers like Avon, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever, the Estée Lauder Companies announced its support this week for a global ban on animal testing in the beauty industry. In a bold and exciting move, the Estée Lauder Companies, which include a wide range of personal-care brands in the cosmetics, fragrance, skin- and hair-care categories, is backing the #BeCrueltyFree Campaign. Led by Humane Society International, the #BeCrueltyFree campaign claims to be the largest effort to end global cosmetic animal testing in history.
"We are proud to partner with Humane Society International, an organization that has done such thoughtful work advocating for animals everywhere," Anna Klein, senior vice president, global corporate affairs for The Estée Lauder Companies, said in a statement. "They have been a wonderful partner and advisor as we work together towards our common goal to bring an end to cosmetics animal testing, worldwide."
This is big news, because as ancient and horrific as it may seem, cosmetics animal testing is still a very real issue. Although almost no U.S cosmetics companies test their products on animals anymore, and the European Union (E.U.) officially banned the practice years ago, animal testing in the cosmetics industry is still a global problem. Estée Lauder actually committed to eliminating internal animal testing more than 30 years ago, however, many of the company's brands are sold in countries that legally require animal testing on cosmetics or cosmetic ingredients (Estée Lauder products are sold in over 150 different countries worldwide). The largest of these countries is China, where the government requires animal testing for all imported cosmetics, regardless of where they were manufactured...