Our commitment for animal wellbeing

We're dedicated to the wellbeing of animals and are working towards the day when no government or regulator, anywhere in the world, requires safety testing on cosmetics using laboratory animals.

We're a global company and abide by all regulatory requirements associated with animal testing everywhere we do business. There's no animal testing conducted to support the safety of cosmetics we sell in Europe, in compliance with the EU directive banning such tests.

Unfortunately, some governments and regulatory bodies continue to require tests on animals, where advances in in-vitro testing alternatives, coupled with the safety data that is already available, make them unnecessary. That's what we’re working to change.

For 35 years, Colgate-Palmolive has encouraged the development of testing alternatives that are scientifically valid and can be accepted by safety regulators.
We're leaders in promoting and participating in the development, validation and acceptance of alternative non-animal testing methods worldwide, investing more than $1 million dollars annually on research with non-animal alternatives. We work closely with worldwide regulatory agencies to examine how non-animal tests can be incorporated into their safety requirements for consumer products, and our efforts have been recognised by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The strength of these non-animal options allowed us to declare a voluntary moratorium on all animal testing of our adult Personal Care Products. This moratorium has been in effect worldwide since 1999.

We also continue our commitment to finding and using alternative methods through support and involvement with the European Partnership for Alternative to Animals (EPAA) and the Institute for In Vitro Science (IIVS). Colgate-Palmolive actively shares its work to reduce animal use and develop alternatives, so that this information can help others in their search for ways to minimise animal use.

We look forward to a day when all countries will recognise alternative methods and all necessary safety studies on cosmetic products can be performed without the use of animals. We will continue to work to make that day come sooner.