Iconic Maker of Natural Personal-Care Products Willing to Lose Sales Instead of Meeting China's Animal Testing Requirements
For
Immediate Release:
April
1, 2013
Contact:
Tasgola
Bruner 202-483-7382
Chatsworth, Calif. -- Natural personal-care products giant Nature's Gate is pulling out of the Chinese market—and losing sales—to show its opposition to animal testing requirements for its products in that country.
The decision follows extensive discussions between the California-based company and PETA about China's demand that cosmetics companies pay to have their products tested on animals in Chinese laboratories before they can be sold there.
Nature's Gate is the latest in a growing list of companies that refuse to do business in China if it means supporting cruel, archaic tests on animals. After talks with PETA, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Dermalogica, and Pangea Organics all ended sales in China. Other companies, including NYX Cosmetics, Urban Decay, and Yes To Inc., have pledged to stay out of China until the requirement is lifted. For Nature’s Gate compassionate move, PETA is presenting the company with its Courage in Commerce Award.
"Nature's Gate is a hero for animals and for millions of consumers who want personal-care products that come without a death toll," says PETA Senior Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo, who notes that now that the European Union has completely banned all sales of cosmetics products tested on animals, China is the new front in the battle. "PETA is working to help Chinese officials modernize their testing requirements, but companies can—and should—stay out of that market until no animal is poisoned or blinded."
Not all companies are as dedicated to staying cruelty-free as Nature's Gate is. Mary Kay, Avon, and Estée Lauder, which for decades were on PETA's list of companies that don't test on animals, recently began paying for tests that poison animals in order to market their products in China. Consumers can find out whether a company tests on animals by checking PETA's lists here.
Scientists funded in part by PETA are currently working with the Chinese government to accept non-animal tests for cosmetics ingredients.
For more information, please visit PETA.org and read more about Nature’s Gate decision here.