To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to extend the ban on the use of animal experimentation for the development of cosmetics to include the marketing of products produced abroad after animal experimentation. (130710)

The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/2152) implement the 7th amendment to the EU Council directive on the safety of cosmetic products.

Among other things the 7th amendment introduces a ban on the testing of finished cosmetic products and their ingredients by 2005.

It also introduces a two-stage marketing ban. Until 2009 the ban is operative only if an alternative to an animal test exists. From 2009 (with an exception until 2013 for three tests) the ban becomes fully operative irrespective of whether alternatives have been developed and irrespective of where in the world the product is manufactured.