Sale of cosmetics tested on animals banned in California, Nevada, and Illinois

Great news for the US.

The sale of cosmetics tested on animals is now illegal in California, Nevada, and Illinois. A new law enacted this month has banned selling any beauty products that have been tested on animals, including makeup, skincare, and haircare. The move has been dubbed as groundbreaking for the three States, with many hopeful that the rest of the country will follow suit. Kitty Block, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, and Sara Amundson, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund, applauded the new legislation, calling it "the dawn of a new era."  "We are happy that these three states have stepped up," they said. "This signals the dawn of a new era when it comes to this practice that results in great suffering for tens of thousands of animals worldwide. "But even as we celebrate, it is important to remember that we still lack a nationwide ban on cosmetics animal testing and the sale of cosmetic products tested on animals." If passed, the Humane Cosmetics Act would end all animal testing for cosmetics (and their ingredients) in the United States. It would also ban the import of cosmetics that have been tested on animals from anywhere else in the world, and stop companies from claiming to be cruelty free if they sell their products in China, where animal testing is required. "There is no need for Congress to drag its feet on ending cosmetics testing nationwide," said Block and Amundson. "California, Illinois and Nevada have already set an example by showing us that so many Americans prefer the humane path forward on this issue." The European Union banned animal tested cosmetic products across its member states in 2013. Australia, India, Switzerland, New Zealand also have laws banning or partially prohibiting animal testing on cosmetics.