Support News: China Animal Testing Free in Conditions since May 1st, 2021
“From May 1st, imported general cosmetics will be exempted from animal testing.”
As soon as the “Regulations on the Administration of Registration and Filing of New Cosmetics” were issued by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China, There were some international cosmetics brands that responded to the opportunity immediately.
Recently, Brazilian beauty group Natura&Co revealed in the 2020 Q4 financial report that its British brand “The Body Shop” and Australian brand “Aesop” will enter the Chinese market and will complete product notification (filing) in China in the first half of this year. Previously, the above two brands did not officially enter the Chinese market because they did not meet the requirements for animal testing of imported cosmetics.
Does this mean a new round of imported beauty brands coming to China?
According to the “Regulations on Supervision and Hygiene of Cosmetics” promulgated by the health administration department of the State Council in 1989, China has always required all imported beauty and personal care brands to conduct animal testing on their products. This has turned away many imported cosmetics brands that oppose animal testing specially after EU totally banned the animal testing on 2013.
In recent years, China Cosmetics management departments have begun to gradually relax restrictions on imported cosmetic products.
In 2014, China no longer requires domestic made non-special use cosmetics to undergo animal testing, but still requires all imported cosmetics and domestic special-use products to do the animal testing to ensure product safety.
Four years later, Cruelty Free International (CFI, “International Anti-Animal Testing Organization”) has reached a cooperation with relevant Chinese authorities to take measures to exempt imported cosmetics from animal testing in China and help more “no animal testing” “International beauty brands enter the Chinese market.
In January of this year, the French Federation of Beauty Businesses (FEBEA) stated that France will become the first EU country where general cosmetics can be exported to China exempted from animal testing by issuing the official goverment GMP certificate which is only acceptable certificate for China animal testing free policy. “The Chinese authorities have agreed to French shampoo, shower gel, blush, mascara, Personal care and beauty products such as perfume no longer need to be tested on animals before entering the Chinese market.”
The news has aroused voices in the industry: “This will help French cosmetics enter the Chinese market more smoothly and faster.”
On March 4, the NMPA issued new regulations to further liberalize the requirements for animal testing of cosmetics.
Dilemma between animal testing and Chinese market, What does cruelty free brands did in past few years?
In recent years, China’s beauty and personal care market has grown rapidly, and imports have also surged. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, the import volume of beauty cosmetics and toiletries in 2020 was 451,100 tons, an increase of 3.7% from last year, and the import value was 140.04 billion RMB, an increase of 29.7% from last year.
In this context, many imported cosmetics brands are caught in a dilemma between “animal testing” and entering the Chinese market.
For example, The Body Shop had previously entered a duty-free shop in a Chinese airport. However, because it is still facing random animal testing and sampling, the brand’s cruelty-free image is damaged, and it has been resisted by overseas curelty free consumers. In 2014, the stressed-out Body Shop withdrew from the Chinese market.
When NARS entered the Chinese market in 2017, it was also questioned by consumers. NARS responded, “We must abide by the laws and regulations of our business locations, including China. The decision to enter the Chinese market is because we believe that it is very important for Chinese consumers to have access to and understand NARS products.”
Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Unilever, Shiseido and Avon have all experienced similar experiences after entering the Chinese market. In 2019, Procter & Gamble joined the “BeCrueltyFree” campaign to support the global ban on animal testing of cosmetics, and advocated a ban on animal testing of cosmetics in all major global beauty markets in 2023.
According to relevant Chinese regulations, “animal testing” only applies to imported beauty and personal care products sold in physical stores, but does not require brands that conduct direct sales on the Internet or through cross-border ecommerce. Therefore, in the past few years, many imported brands have chosen to enter the Chinese market by entering Tmall Global, JD internationl to avoiding the requirement of animal testing.
In July 2019, The Ordinary officially opened an overseas flagship store on Tmall Global. With 5% caffeine eye essence, 10% nicotinamide essence and other hot products sold over 10,000 monthly, it has successfully spread to the Chinese market. In 2020, the American beauty brand Milk Makeup, which advocates “no added animal ingredients and no animal testing”, and the Australian beauty retail brand MECCA, which advocates “100% animal experiment testing”, also opened Tmall Global flagship stores. At present, the number of fans in the two brand stores is over 20,000.
When the American cosmetics brand Nudestix entered the Chinese market, it chose to cut directly from the local manufacturing factory, built its own supply chain in the Chinese market, and produced products locally in China without being restricted by animal testing.
Imported cosmetics may reach a peak of entry into China.
Many industry insiders said that after May 1, the exemption of animal testing for imported ordinary cosmetics will officially come into effect, which may cause a new wave of imported brands to enter China.
First of all, Chinese consumers have a consumer demand for imported beauty brands that advocate “no animal testing”. For example, beauty brands LUSH and The Ordinary, which are positioned as “natural features”, have already become popular in the Daigou channel before entering the Chinese market. In the current LUSH Tmall Global flagship store, many of the top-ranked products in monthly sales are marked with “Anti-Animal Testing” patterns, and the top-selling shampoo in the store is also marked with “Cruelty-Free cosmetic”. The number of fans in The Ordinary shop is as high as 619,000.
Second, a large number of overseas beauty brands have waited for the Chinese market for a long time. All they are waiting is the gateway through animal testing free in China.
The new regulation will greatly promote the entry of European and American cosmetics into the Chinese market. In particular, they will attract organic and naturalistic brands.
At the same time, the registration period of the filing process is reduced significantly for imported products to enter China faster. Once the regulations are implemented, it means that there is no need to go through a long filing process in the future. “It shall be saved at least a month from previous filing period since safety assessment report will be replaced by the time consuming animal testing process”, said by CosmeticsBridge Regulatory Team.
Roberto Marques, Chairman of Natura & Co., stated in the financial report that he has a clear time plan for Aesop and The Body Shop to enter the Chinese market. The former is expected to open its first store in Shanghai in the fourth quarter of 2021. The Body Shop’s first store in China is expected to open in 2022.
However, it is foreseeable that as more oversea brands are deployed in the Chinese market, the competitive landscape in the domestic beauty market will further intensify.
CosmeticsBridge analysis that the following trends:
- Once the policy is released, it is equivalent to opening the door and accelerating the introduction of high-quality brands, those brands that insist on not doing animal testing and insist natural sources may be easier to obtain Approved by young consumers or those who hold the same opinion.
- At the same time, although market sales will diverge, it will also strengthen consumers’ popularity and recognition of concepts such as product efficacy and ingredients and will bring new activities and member management.
- In the future, more brands mean the more rational the consumers. It is really important to improve product strength and marketing strategy. Ultimately the product will speak for itself.