The Government has recognised the public concern around the testing on animals of chemicals used as ingredients in cosmetics. The Government has introduced measures that ensure no new licences will now be granted for animal testing of chemicals that are exclusively intended to be used as ingredients in cosmetics products. Further, the Government is also undertaking a review at pace on the effective administration of the ban over the longer term. This will give due regard of the needs of the science industry, the need to ensure worker and environmental safety, and the need to protect animals from unnecessary harm.
More broadly, the Government is actively committed to supporting and funding the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is primarily through funding from the UK Research and Innovation for the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) who have committed £31.6 million for research and innovation into replacements technologies in the past five years, and to ensure that the UK has a robust and regulatory system for licensing animal studies. The NC3Rs are on tract to meet their commitment to invest 75 per cent of their research and innovation budge on replacement technologies by the end of 2024.
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