* KINDER TO ANIMALS: The European Community...
* KINDER TO ANIMALS: The European Community agreed this week to ban cosmetics companies from testing their products on animals beginning in 1998. But ministers in charge of consumer affairs found a way of postponing the deadline if it appears the ban will harm the beauty business. The decision was a partial victory for animal welfare groups, which have campaigned relentlessly for the last two years and mustered huge public pressure against reluctant governments.
As many as 50,000 rabbits, rats, mice and other animals are killed or maimed in the EC each year in safety tests by cosmetics firms before shampoos, sun creams and a host of other beauty products get to stores.
Britain’s compromise allows for postponements of at least two years if a majority of EC states believe it is impossible to find alternative testing methods for any cosmetic ingredient before the deadline.
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