Government vows to ensure cosmetics comply with ban on animal testing

A Government pledge to check that cosmetics being sold in Ireland comply with an international animal testing ban has been welcomed by animal rights groups.

Over the past four years, EU laws to ban animal-tested cosmetics have gradually been phased in. Information about any animal testing must be included in a compulsory “product information file” (PIF), which is not publicly accessible.

As a result, the Irish Antivivisection Society (IAVS) had raised concerns about whether or not there was adequate monitoring of such products to ensure they are complying with the ban. The group said that in the past, there was “little evidence” that the Government had been checking the PIFs.