New Zealand is first country in Australasia to ban cosmetics animal testing

The move will ensure that a total ban on all testing of finished cosmetics products and ingredients will be implemented, falling in line with other international authorities with total band that include Europe, India and Israel.

The decision was confirmed by the country’s Primary Industries Minister, Nathan Guy, following the debate on the supplementary order paper (SOP).

Two years of work to get bill through​

"To the best of our knowledge there never has been any animal testing for cosmetics in New Zealand, but this amendment will send an important message that this kind of testing is unacceptable to New Zealanders and will never happen here,"​ Guy said.

The amendment was proposed by Green Party MP Mojo Mathers, and received a majority vote that is the culmination of a two-year campaign to ensure that the practice is stamped out.

Although there is very little evidence of animal testing on cosmetics and personal care products that are produced or sold in the country, Mathers and a number of animals rights campaigns wanted to ensure that there were no exceptions with this amendment to the existing law.

Kiwis gave the move their backing​

"I have been working solidly behind the scenes to get this ban through Parliament for some time now. During the course of this campaign, thousands of Kiwis signed petitions and emailed and lobbied MPs to support my call to ban cosmetics testing on animals,"​ Mathers said.

The Humane Society International was behind the #BeCrueltyFree New Zealand campaign, which has been hard fought over a two year period to get to this point, one the group terms an ‘animal welfare milestone’.

Working together, Mathers and the Humane Society gained the support of a number of leading cosmetic players in the country, including Lush, Antipodes, Wendyl’s and Kester Black, together with a number of New Zealand celebrities and the backing of 100,000 signatures collected from people nationwide.