In our submission to the European Commission’s consultation on its Chemicals – strategy for sustainability, Cruelty Free Europe is calling for an approach that ensures a high level of protection of human health and the environment, minimising exposure to hazardous chemicals, whilst making every effort to ensure animal testing is replaced with better and more reliable non-animal methods.

We emphasise that:

• Any simplification of laws must not come at the cost of the existing legal requirement that animal testing for chemicals in the EU be done only as a last resort
• The animal testing prohibitions in the Regulation on Cosmetic Products must be maintained and improved
• More animal testing is not the way to protect human health, the environment and other animals. Focus should instead be on using tools like the precautionary principle, assessing exposure and biomonitoring.
• Animal testing is cruel and, because it is lengthy and at best inconclusive, delays appropriate actions.
• Much greater investment is needed in non-animal approaches, which are faster, more relevant and more humane.

The proposed strategy aims to reduce the risks associated with producing and using chemicals. It will simplify and strengthen EU rules on chemicals, and review how EU agencies and scientific bodies can work together towards a process where substances are only reviewed by one agency.

Cruelty Free Europe’s Director of Science, Dr Katy Taylor, said: “The new chemicals strategy forms part of the EU’s new Green Deal which promises a radical transformation. It is right that Europe is looking to the Green Deal and to its post-COVID recovery plans to be ambitious about being better, more resilient and sustainable - if we are to achieve that Next Generation EU, we need to agree that animal testing is the science of the past and really invest in non-animal approaches. This strategy is an opportunity to do that.”