Alternatives to Animal Testing: the European Cosmetics Industry Increases InvestmentsCosmetics Europe, the trade association representing the interests of the cosmetic industry in Europe, says it will add 8 million euros to fund the programme dedicated to find alternatives to animal testing. A general marketing ban on products tested on animal should come into force in March 2013 in the European Union. The new funds come on top of the 50 million euros programme that the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe (formerly known as Colipa) have jointly invested in SEURAT-1, a five year research initiative, which was launched to develop a consistent strategy for the replacement of in vivo repeated dose systemic toxicity testing. Speaking at the annual SEURAT-1 meeting, which was held in Lisbon last week, Cosmetics Europe Director-General, Bertil Heerink, said the research programme need to be extended in order to take full benefit of all the efforts made in previous years. “We want the programme to maintain momentum. This industry continues to be totally committed to replacing alternative methods as soon as scientifically possible and therefore we continue to invest in research. The acknowledgement of our industry’s efforts helps us to continue our research on such a large scale," he added. Full story at Premium Beauty News | 
