EU court upholds animal testing ban

The EU's top court has ruled against France in its bid to overturn Brussels laws outlawing the sale of cosmetics tested on animals.

New laws, due to come into force in 2009, ban animal testing on ingredients used in cosmetics and have been fiercely contested by Europe's €40 billion cosmetics market.

France, which has one of the largest cosmetics industries in Europe, argues that the law breaches the EU's commitments to WTO agreements and brought an action in the court to overturn the law.

On Wednesday the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg dismissed the action, a judgment welcomed by animal rights groups.

"We are delighted that the court has confirmed that the test and marketing bans are legal and that the aim of the Directive to end animal testing of cosmetics is a valid objective of EU legislation", said Sonja Van Tichelen, Director of Eurogroup for Animal Welfare.

Philip Whitehead MEP, chairman of the European Parliament's Consumer Protection Committee also applauded the result.

"Animal welfare organisations can rest assured that the ban on testing and on marketing such products is now safe from further legal challenge. They can now celebrate the last and biggest victory of their entire campaign," he said.

MEPs and national governments gave the go-ahead to the rules in February 2003, after ten years of political wrangling.

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