Cosmetic products: animal experiments (7th amend. to "Cosmetics Directive" 76/768/EEC)

The committee adopted the report by Dagmar ROTH-BEHRENDT (PES, D) amending important parts of the proposal under the codecision procedure (1st reading). The committee wanted to preserve the ban on the marketing of cosmetics ingredients tested on animals which was supposed to have come into effect in 1998 under the sixth amendment to the directive. It disagreed with the Commission's proposal to delete the marketing ban and simply ban the performance of tests on animals, and said that what was needed was a combination of a test ban and a marketing ban. The committee accordingly called for the marketing ban to come into force immediately for ingredients where other validated testing methods existed, and in any case five years after the adoption of the directive. To ensure WTO compliance, producers in third countries would have to be treated in a way equivalent to Community producers, with no discriminatory treatment. The committee called for funding from the Sixth Framework Research Programme for the development of new non-animal testing methods. Consumer information was another key concern for the committee, which wanted the ingredients of cosmetic products to be listed in full and consumers to be informed of how long a product might be used after opening, without causing harm to the consumer and without losing its purported effects. In line with the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Cosmetic Products and Non-Food Products, the committee also adopted an amendment calling for fragrance allergens to be labelled. It believed that a total ban was not necessary but that labelling was essential for consumers who needed to avoid allergens. �