Thanks to a massive international Campaign coordinated by the European Coalition against Vivisection, we obtained a European Directive which set forth the ban on the sale of cosmetics tested on animals starting from 1998. The implementation deadline was postponed several times, but the ban on cosmetic testing on animals established by the EU Directive finally came into force on 11 March 2013. Notwithstanding, there is still the possibility of carrying out tests on animals outside the European Community for cosmetic products intended for the markets of non-EU countries that still consider them indispensable. Furthermore, some ingredients continue being tested on animals because they are not intended solely for the beauty sector but also for the chemical and pharmaceutical one.
It is therefore still very important for Consumers to purchase cosmetics produced without animal testing, choosing only companies that adhere to the “Not tested on animals International Standard”, the only one to be recognised internationally.
As far back as 1998, Cibe laboratories adhered to this self-regulation specification, promoted in Italy by various animal welfare organisations: by choosing our products, the Consumer therefore has the guarantee and peace of mind that their money does not contribute or has ever contributed to animal testing. What is more, thanks to the existing collaboration with LEAL (historical Antivivisectionist Association active in Italy since 1978), our company contributes to funding ANIMAL-FREE research. In order to achieve this goal, since 1981 LEAL has also funded SCHOLARSHIPS for research that serves man, yet respects other life forms: in addition to being cruel, experimentation with animal models is not as predictive and reliable for man as has been asserted for many years, just think that 95% of animal tests do not pass clinical trials on humans and that a great many alternative tests are already available between mathematical models, clinical studies and in vitro tests.
By adhering to the Standard, our company has made a commitment to only purchase raw materials that have not been tested on animals for cosmetic purposes after our adhesion date (1998). Although it is true that many raw materials used in cosmetics were tested on animals at the time of first marketing – and very often considerably earlier than the Standard – by adopting a cruelty free policy the company actually urges producers of raw materials to develop alternative tests and not to place on the market new molecules for cosmetic use that involve performing new tests on animals, also because a ruling by the European Union Court of Justice has established that “the placing on the Community market of cosmetic products containing ingredients, or a combination of ingredients, which have been the subject of animal testing where that testing was performed outside the European Union in order to market cosmetic products containing those ingredients in those countries may be prohibited (…)”.
In order to assure Consumers’ safety and compliance with the Standard, Cibe laboratories preliminarily carries out careful research on ingredients, with the safety data available, and a strict selection of suppliers, favouring those who prove and declare that they share the company’s cruelty-free policy. The products are periodically subjected to microbiological control tests, while the dermatological tests are conducted in vivo on human volunteers or in vitro. The active awareness-raising work performed by the Company in relation to these issues is continuously expanding also thanks to the production activity for third parties which has made it possible to export this policy also within other companies.
Our company’s production has always stood out for the Ecological Quality of the Cosmetics and Detergents, formulated by favouring the use of raw materials and active ingredients of plant origin, with the utmost respect for consumer safety, effectiveness of the product and its optimal biodegradability. For greater transparency we would like to inform Customers who follow a vegetarian and vegan diet that ingredients of animal origin may be contained in the cosmetics produced by us, but they are cruelty-free.