ICCS pushes animal-free cosmetic testing as Colombia campaigns for ban amid global regulatory hurdles

The International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety (ICCS) says it is making significant progress in advancing non-animal safety assessments for the cosmetics industry. Meanwhile, Colombia is campaigning to ban animal testing for cosmetics.

At the inaugural conference Washington DC, US, leaders from 13 countries, including regulatory agencies such as the US FDA, Health Canada and the OECD, discussed the adoption of Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) and non-animal methodologies (NAMs).

With major players like L’Oréal and Unilever involved, ICCS is speeding efforts to phase out animal testing globally, navigate complex regulatory landscapes and foster international collaboration.

Personal Care Insights speaks to Stéphane Dhalluin, global head of Human & Environmental Safety Evaluation at L’Oréal and ICCS vice chair of the board, to learn about developments: 

“Since the inception of ICCS in 2023, we have made significant strides in fostering international collaboration and building trust in non-animal methodologies. Our work alongside safety assessors, regulators and industry partners is focused on advancing these innovative methods.”

“ICCS, a key player in cosmetic safety, is now considered part of the solution for beauty without animal testing. This recent conference was a milestone, bringing together representatives from 13 countries, including government bodies, to accelerate the shift toward more human-relevant, predictive models that can ultimately replace animal data for safety assessment.” 

Erin Hill, CEO of ICCS.Erin Hill, CEO of ICCS, adds how NGRAs differ from traditional risk assessments and what the main challenges are in implementing them industry-wide: 

“In some ways, NGRA is similar to traditional risk assessment as it takes into consideration the extent to which a consumer is exposed to the substance in question. The biggest difference is that NGRA utilizes only non-animal approaches.”

“The cosmetic industry has been at the forefront of developing, standardizing, and implementing non-animal approaches for safety assessment approaches that protect human and environmental health as well as or better than traditional approaches that use laboratory animals. Animal-free approaches utilize cells in culture (in vitro tests) and computational modeling (in silico technologies) combined with other sources of information (such as consumer experience studies) to make a comprehensive safety assessment.”

Encouraging regulators to embrace NAMs

To discuss agencies’ efforts to adopt non-animal approaches to cosmetic safety assessment, regulatory scientists from the US FDA, US EPA, Health Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada and the OECD convened for an inaugural meeting and post-conference workshop.

Hill stresses that “early regulatory engagement is a cornerstone of ICCS work. It is vitally important that we understand regulatory data needs and work directly with agencies to build their confidence in new approaches.” 

“ICCS looks for opportunities to engage with regulatory scientists and examine case studies utilizing NGRA. This process allows us to explore regulators’ areas of confidence — and uncertainty — with non-animal approaches. In some cases, NGRA safety dossiers have been submitted in parallel to traditional (animal-based) dossiers to regulatory agencies so they can examine cases side by side.”

To that matter, the Colombian Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and Information and Communications Technology recently said they are trying to disseminate Law 2047 of 2020, which prohibits the experimentation, importation, exportation, manufacturing and/or commercialization of cosmetic products, their ingredients and combinations when these involve testing on animals.

They assert that to avoid using animal testing for cosmetic products, the national government is developing incentives and alternative models, such as providing research grants. 

However, the law makes two exceptions to the use of animal testing for cosmetic ingredients due to health or environmental risks or when there are no alternative tests validated by the international scientific community.

Colombia is trying to disseminate Law 2047 of 2020.Animal testing phase-out concerns 

Hill shares that a key concern for cosmetic manufacturers regarding phasing out animal testing “is the ability of their suppliers to register a new cosmetic ingredient without the need for animal testing.”

“In some parts of the world (e.g., the EU) it is illegal to test a cosmetic ingredient in animals for the purpose of a cosmetic safety assessment. However, in other parts of the world (e.g., China), testing of new ingredients in animals is still required. There are also sometimes conflicting regulations in regions where animal testing is required of cosmetic ingredients — this is the case in the EU with the REACH regulation and the ban on animal testing of cosmetics.”

She says a panel of ingredient suppliers — BASF, Innospec, Inolex and Croda, among others — discussed the difficulties in registering ingredients worldwide without using animal testing and the precautions they are taking in light of the regulatory uncertainty.

However, Hill claims, “ICCS is fortunate to have cosmetic trade associations among our members which help us understand the local regulatory requirements around cosmetics.” 

“We seek opportunities to engage with regulators to discuss the benefits of utilizing NAMs and NGRAs. Most regulatory agencies around the world have shown a commitment to embrace these non-animal approaches due to their ability to represent human physiology and the faster time to receive information for decision-making. The ethical concern of using animals in the testing of chemicals is also a factor in many regions.” 

“Therefore, regulators are open to working with groups, like ICCS, who are helping them transition to the new approaches in a scientifically sound way. Two panels during the Inaugural meeting explored these situations — one was focused on governmental roadmaps to phase out animal testing in the UK and EU. The other explored the unique opportunities and challenges of supporting the shift to non-animal methods within LATAM countries.”