SA's animal rights organisation Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC), which advocated the ban on cosmetic animal testing years ago, said it is inspired by the progress made on Bill 470 of 2020. This follows a Parliamentary programming committee meeting last week where it was confirmed that the Cosmetics Testing Bill was to be dealt with later this year.
The Cape Argus reports that the organisation aims to amend the Animals Protection Act of 1962 and the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics, and Disinfectants Act of 1972 to prohibit the sale and manufacturing of cosmetics that were tested on an animal in the country, and to criminalise the testing of cosmetics on animals. BWC chairperson Toni Brockhoven said the Private Member’s Amendment Bill was presented in 2018, but ended up on the back burner, and was streamlined and had to be represented. She said if the Bill were passed, SA would be the first country on the continent to do this.
“The Bill shouldn't be contentious and is not complicated. While animal use will come to an end only partly because of ethical issues, ultimately the reasons for the change are irrelevant,” she said.
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