Shiseido Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) has established a safety assurance system based on alternative methods to animal testing. Except when necessary to explain safety to society, the company will abolish animal testing both internally and externally for cosmetics and quasi-drugs beginning development in April 2013.
The company prioritizes ensuring the high safety of all products, avoiding animal testing whenever possible to confirm safety and actively promoting the development of alternative methods. Meanwhile, Europe, the most advanced country in the elimination of animal testing, enacted the EU Cosmetics Directive in 2003, banning the complete sale of products and products containing ingredients tested on animals within the EU from 2013.
Against this backdrop, in March 2010, the company declared, "We aim to abolish animal testing for cosmetics from the perspective of animal welfare, while rigorously maintaining safety so that customers can use cosmetics with confidence." In March 2011, the company abolished animal testing within the company.
Meanwhile, since June 2010, Shiseido has held five "Roundtable Conferences Aiming to Abolish Animal Testing on Cosmetic Ingredients" with stakeholders including experts, academics, and animal welfare organizations. As a result of these efforts, a new safety assurance system has been established that does not involve animal testing, combining "information assurance," which evaluates products based on a database; "alternative method assurance," which uses newly developed testing methods using cells and artificial skin, as well as a safety prediction system based on chemical structure; and "final human confirmation," which involves patch tests and stinging tests conducted on volunteer panels.
Shiseido will continue to develop effective alternative methods to further enhance the reliability of safety assurance, and will also lobby government agencies in each country through industry association activities and other means to have alternative methods recognized as official testing methods under the legal systems of each country and region.
The company prioritizes ensuring the high safety of all products, avoiding animal testing whenever possible to confirm safety and actively promoting the development of alternative methods. Meanwhile, Europe, the most advanced country in the elimination of animal testing, enacted the EU Cosmetics Directive in 2003, banning the complete sale of products and products containing ingredients tested on animals within the EU from 2013.
Against this backdrop, in March 2010, the company declared, "We aim to abolish animal testing for cosmetics from the perspective of animal welfare, while rigorously maintaining safety so that customers can use cosmetics with confidence." In March 2011, the company abolished animal testing within the company.
Meanwhile, since June 2010, Shiseido has held five "Roundtable Conferences Aiming to Abolish Animal Testing on Cosmetic Ingredients" with stakeholders including experts, academics, and animal welfare organizations. As a result of these efforts, a new safety assurance system has been established that does not involve animal testing, combining "information assurance," which evaluates products based on a database; "alternative method assurance," which uses newly developed testing methods using cells and artificial skin, as well as a safety prediction system based on chemical structure; and "final human confirmation," which involves patch tests and stinging tests conducted on volunteer panels.
Shiseido will continue to develop effective alternative methods to further enhance the reliability of safety assurance, and will also lobby government agencies in each country through industry association activities and other means to have alternative methods recognized as official testing methods under the legal systems of each country and region.
