By Beatrice Wihlander
Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies has approved a landmark law banning the sale of imported cosmetics tested on animals. The law, which is awaiting presidential sanction, applies to all personal care products tested on vertebrate non-human animals.
The implementation follows Brazil’s ban on domestic animal testing for cosmetics, which took effect in March 2023. However, the former ban only applies to testing in Brazil, not cosmetics sold from other countries.
It has not yet been announced when the sanctioning is expected to occur.
Congressman Ruy Carneiro argues that keeping animal experimentation as the dominant practice represents “ethical failure” and a scientific setback.
Carniero explains that there are methods that replace the use of animals, such as computational models, 3D bioprinting of tissues, organoids, and cell cultures. These alternatives are shown to be reliable, ethical, and often more effective tools.
