Cruelty Free International holds new Labour government’s “feet to the fire” over animal testing phase-out promises

12 Jul 2024 --- Cruelty Free International wants the UK’s new Labour government to honor its manifesto pledge to “partner with scientists, industry and civil society” and phase out animal testing. Dylan Underhill, the organization’s head of Public Affairs, tells Personal Care Insights that he will be waiting to see if solid measures are applied and if the new governmental leaders will follow through on their promises.

Home Office statistics show that over 2.76 million animals were used in laboratories in Great Britain in 2022. Regulators require 10% of those tests to assess the safety or effectiveness of chemicals, medicines and other products.

Cruelty Free International says the party’s commitment must lead to the end of the use of animals in UK laboratories by developing a roadmap with targets, milestones and actions. It wants to see a new minister coordinate plans across all departments.

It also asks the government to provide further detail to expand on earlier commitments by senior members of the Labour Party, including establishing a board of experts to be established in the first year and tasked with drafting a plan to phase out the use of dogs, minipigs and rabbits in testing.

So far, the organization has received pledges from 307 Parliamentary candidates to support policies to outlaw testing cosmetics on animals, modernize chemical testing for household products and deliver a government-led plan to target zero tests on animals.

Do you think the Labour majority will uphold its promise to phase out animal testing?
Underhill: We hope the government will uphold its promise to phase out animal testing. Its manifesto commitment was most welcome, if long overdue, from any party. The early indications are positive. During the election campaign, the now Environment Secretary Steve Reed set out additional details that could form the basis for early steps toward a phase out. We also understand that this is an issue that the Prime Minister himself has put some genuine thought into, indicating commitment from the government’s heart. We will still be holding the government’s feet to the fire. Dylan Underhill, head of Public Affairs at Cruelty Free International.

We need bold and ambitious ideas to end the suffering and death of animals in laboratories in the UK. We stand ready to assist the government and hope they include this promise in the King’s Speech next Wednesday, but we expect to see concrete signs of action as soon as possible to indicate they are serious.

What does the pledge mean for the personal care industry?
Underhill: Any phase-out based on a clear roadmap should include a commitment to strengthening the ban on animal testing for cosmetics products and their ingredients and putting it into law. This will hopefully bring the personal care industry in the UK closer to the standards of our Leaping Bunny Program, which shows that brands have done everything they can to remove animal testing from their products, right down to the supply chain level.

How will the personal care industry be affected if the regulation gets passed?
Underhill: It remains to be seen what this means for international brands that wish to sell their products in the UK, but if it is approached seriously and delivered in a comprehensive way, including the bolstering of the cosmetics testing ban, this pledge could be a major boost for consumers who wish to make informed, ethical choices in the personal care products they use.

What do you think the Labour Party will do regarding animal testing? What rules will they apply?
Underhill: We do not yet know the exact details of their proposal. In the manifesto, there was a headline commitment to working toward the phase-out of animal testing. This is a welcome statement of the ultimate objective but lacks much detail. The now Environment Secretary set out further policies in a newspaper interview before the election, which indicated they would publish a roadmap to end the use of animals in the scientific testing of products and that in the first year, a board of experts will be tasked with creating a plan to phase out the use of certain species.

There are many questions that need answering before we can be confident that this represents a comprehensive roadmap. Will there be specific targets and milestones? Who will make up the experts on the proposed board? How do they define the scope of ‘products’? What will they do to accelerate the development and uptake of alternatives?

These are the areas where the government will need to provide clarity and show leadership if it hopes to meet the desires and expectations of the general public.

By Sabine Waldeck