Taiwan Passes Legislation to End Animal Testing by 2019

This past August Taiwan’s first animal rights political party, the Taiwan Animal Protection Party, was formed in Taipei where “hundreds of people gathered to mark the founding of the party, including monks, politicians and business people.” Now, according to Global Cosmetics News, Taiwan has become the latest country to “ban the sale of cosmetics products that have been tested on animals.”

The bill was initially proposed in April of last year, and was officially passed by parliament this last week. According to Global Cosmetics News, the legislation will come into effect in 2019, “amending Taiwan’s Control for Cosmetic Hygiene Act to outlaw cosmetic testing for both cosmetics ingredients and end-products.” The ban unfortunately does not apply to imported products, but Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), applauded the result:

“The #BeCrueltyFree Taiwan campaign, a partnership between HSI and the Taiwan SPCA, played a decisive role in securing this victory. Representatives from both these organizations worked closely with bill sponsors, legislators Wang YuMin and Zhuang Rui Xiong, along with key government ministries to advance the legislation. We gained the support of Taiwanese celebrities and launched innovative campaign strategies such as creating an educational video cartoon to play in taxi cabs across Taipei to harness public support for the ban.”

The #BeCrueltyFree Taiwan campaign will continue to work on extending the ban to all products tested on animals.

Photo Credit: www.bt.com