Supporting the ban on cosmetic testing on animals

Voluntary Industry Code of Practice to support the Australian ban on testing cosmetics on animals: providing essential guidance to avoid pitfalls with cosmetics advertising

In late May 2021, the Australian Government joined with Accord to launch a new industry-led Code that provides the makers, suppliers and retailers of cosmetic products with essential guidance for their animal testing advertising claims.

Additionally, with animal testing for cosmetics banned in Australia by law since 1 July 2020, the Code also provides guidance on how the ban operates at a practical level, within the complex framework of the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS).

Hefty penalties are embedded within the two legislative frameworks the Code helps businesses to navigate. These are the Australian Consumer Law, as administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019.

So, just past a year since the Code’s launch, Accord reminds all cosmetic brands that time spent in assessing your products’ animal testing claims against the Code’s guidance could prove invaluable in avoiding potential legal pitfalls in the future.

Four basic rules for making advertising claims underpin the Code so that your advertising is neither false nor misleading. And these rules apply equally to animal testing advertising claims as to most other types of marketing claims, including those related to environmental performance. In summary, these are as follows:

• All advertising claims must be true – meaning that evidence must be held to back up a claim. The ACCC has the power to demand you provide this evidence.
• All advertising must be complete – so it ‘tells the full story’ and does not mislead consumers by omitting key facts and information.
• All advertising claims must be clear – meaning plain and unambiguous language should be used for your claims. For this reason, the Code cautions against using emotive and hard-to-define terms like ‘cruelty free’ and ‘animal friendly’ without backing.
• All advertising must be fair – which means it does not make unfair comparisons with other products. And this is now important in the context that animal testing of cosmetics is banned in Australia.

Sprinkled throughout the Code are numerous helpful examples and case studies to guide your approach to advertising and marketing your products in a manner that aids your compliance with the Australian Consumer Law. For example, the Code highlights the potential helpful role of third-party logos offered by independent certifying bodies, such as Cruelty Free International.

In launching the Code, Accord was pleased to receive support from Australia’s leading animal welfare organisation, RSPCA Australia, and we equally valued the informative consumer information initiative delivered by our colleagues at the National Retail Association via https://animalcosmetictestban.com.au/about/.

Reviews of the Code are to be carried out by Accord at two-yearly intervals and we are now past the halfway mark before our first review in mid-2023. Recognising that the Code’s launch took place during the many distractions of the Covid-19 pandemic, now would seem an ideal time for cosmetic brands to schedule assessments of their advertising against the Code’s guidance.

As further motivation for you to take a deep and considered look at your marketing claims in general, the issue of ‘greenwashing’ in relation to advertising claims has now become a compliance priority for the ACCC.

On this, ACCC’s Deputy Chairperson Delia Rickard recently said: “We also see many examples of businesses making claims about their products, without providing any information to consumers to substantiate the claims. It is important that businesses can back up the claims they are making, whether through reliable scientific reports, transparent supply chain information, reputable third-party certification, or other forms of evidence. Trust me, where we have concerns, we will be asking businesses to substantiate their claims.”

The Code is an industry asset and an important resource that will assist cosmetic brands with their advertising compliance and improve transparency for consumers. Accord proudly hosts and publishes the Code at accord.asn.au/sustainability/voluntary-industry-code-on-animal-test-ban/.

This article was published in the Summer issue of Retail Beauty:

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