Russian Parliament Considering Ban on Animal Testing

Following an earlier move by the Russian parliament to place harsher penalties on those who engage in animal cruelty, a draft law is reportedly in the works to ban animal testing in Russia for cosmetics, perfumes and their ingredients.  

According to Izvestia Daily, the State Duma—the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (parliament)—has offered to introduce a draft law banning the testing of cosmetics, perfumes and their ingredients on animals in Russia.

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Agrarian Affairs, Sergey Doronin, and a member of the Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship, Igor Igoshin, prepared the draft law reportedly following requests from numerous animal protection and animal rights organizations. 

According to the report, Doronin said: "we want to keep pace with the times and not be on the list of third world countries involved in the testing of cosmetics [through] archaic methods; it is necessary to meet the requirements of world standards." 

Acting in accordance with modern European standards would allow Russian perfumes and cosmetics to enter European markets, Doronin added. 

In Europe, no animal testing for cosmetic purposes can be carried out according to the European Commission's regulations, which has given rise to non-animal testing alternatives.

As of this report, Turkey is the most recent country to join the regions worldwide that have banned animal testing for cosmetics which includes the EU, Norway, Israel, India, the state of São Paulo in Brazil and New Zealand. Other countries where lawmakers are considering bills to phase out animal testing include the U.S., CanadaSouth Korea and Taiwan

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