BUAV: Marks & Spencer go cruelty free with the BUAV

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 12:00 AM

Marks & Spencer has been approved as an animal-testing free cosmetics and toiletries retailer under the BUAV's internationally recognised Humane Cosmetics Standard (HCS).

Marks & Spencer's entire cosmetics and toiletries product range will soon carry the famous Leaping Bunny Logo on pack. The Logo gurantees that no animal testing has occurred in any part of the product's manufacturing process.

The high street giant has become the latest national retailer to join the HCS. Like fellow leading retailers the Bodyshop and The Co-op, it has recognised the importance of offering a cast iron gurantee to its customers that its products are entirely cruelty free.

In order to attain BUAV HCS approved status and gain the right to use the logo retailers or manufacturers must pledge that neither they nor their suppliers will conduct or commission animal testing.

Seventy nine per cent of UK shoppers said they would swap to a brand that was not animal tested if they discovered that their existing brand was tested on animals in a survey carried out by Opinion Research Business for the BUAV.

Marks & Spencer's sustainable development manager Katie Stafford said: "We care about animal welfare as much as our customers do. That is why we have maintained a policy of not testing our beauty products on animals for many years. We have now gone one step further to ensure that none of the ingredients have been tested on animals either and we will be labeling our beauty products with the BUAV's Leaping Bunny logo to give our customers that added peace of mind."

BUAV chief executive Michelle Thew said: "We applaud M&S for taking this step to prove its cruelty-free retailer status. The BUAV's Bunny Logo approval is the absolute gold standard in cruelty-free cosmetics and I'm delighted M&S has taken this step to reassure its customers. I'm now calling on other high street retailers to follow suit and clear all animal tested products from the shelves once and for all. It sends out a clear message that today's ethically aware consumers will only trust official approval."
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR

The BUAV's HCS and HHS bunny logo is an internationally recognised and patented cruelty-free logo. Approved companies must open up their supply chain to a rigourous indpendent audit. This painstaking process ensures that neither the product nor, crucially, any of its ingredients have been tested on animals at any stage of the manufacturing cycle. For more information on the strict auditing process and a list of approved companies visit www.gocrueltyfree.org

Cosmetic testing was banned in the UK in 1998. However most leading brands cannot currently claim cruelty-free status as the products and/or ingredients are manufactured and tested overseas.

Statistics
According to an opinion poll carried out by BUAV and Co-op Retail in 2001, 83% of women in the UK would be in favour of a Europe-wide ban on the sale of cosmetics and make-up that are tested on animal.

An opinion poll commissioned Opinion Research Business in 1999 by BUAV and RSPCA found that 88% of women want a complete ban on animal testing for cosmetics, and 96% think there should be compulsory labeling

According to a BUAV poll conducted by Opinion Research Business in 2004, 79% of people they asked said they would be likely to swap to a brand that was not animal tested if they discovered that their existing brand was tested on animals.

The results of a survey by NOP for the Co-op in 1996 revealed that 81% of those questioned thought that animal testing for toiletries and cosmetics should be banned.

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