Testing no ordeal for L'Oreal

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The Swiss cosmetics giant is required by law to assess its products on animals in China, a practice that sits uneasily with Western ethics

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L'Oreal has said it will introduce new lines for Chinese consumers this year.

Bloomberg

Published: 12:00am, 23 Aug 2013Updated: 3:49am, 23 Aug 2013

L'Oreal's push into China's US$32 billion beauty market has a hidden cost - if you are a rabbit or a mouse.

The Paris-based maker of shampoos and lipsticks this month agreed to pay US$843 million for Chinese cosmetics face-mask maker Magic Holdings International, accelerating expansion into the world's second-biggest economy, where it got about 6 per cent of sales in 2012. While L'Oreal is barred by European Union rules from testing on animals within the EU, Beijing requires such trials for every new beauty product.

China is the only major market where companies must test their mascaras and lotions on animals. Rabbits are killed or ingredients dripped into their eyes during Chinese tests, according to London-based animal-rights group Cruelty Free International.

China's policies create a dilemma for firms like L'Oreal and Procter & Gamble that want to sell in the country without alienating consumers in markets where the public demands humane treatment of animals.

India last month banned animal testing for beauty products. The European Union, which has long barred such trials within its borders, this year tightened regulations to also prohibit products tested on animals elsewhere.