China Moving to End Some Cosmetics Testing on Animals "YES!" wrote Hou Xiaomu, an animal lover, on Weibo, about the news that China's food and drug authorities are moving toward ending the testing of cosmetics on animals. About 300,000 animals - rabbits, mice and others - may be used each year in testing cosmetics here, Humane Society International estimates. Zhang Dan, a co-founder of the Beijing-based Animal Protection Network, was also overjoyed, partly because good news for animals is rare in China, she said. "We're very, very happy," she said in a telephone interview. To be honest, the news here every day, you open your computer or email and it's 99.9 percent bad: dogs being killed, cats slaughtered, animal performances in zoos, cruel things. There's not much good. This kind of news is too, too rare. What has changed? In a document dated Nov. 5, the China Food and Drug Administration asked for opinions about proposed regulatory changes, including in the cosmetics approval system, "in order to improve regulatory management and improve consumers" health rights." Proposal No. 1, of three, says domestically produced, "non-special use" cosmetics no longer have to meet former requirements of testing on animals, starting from June 1, 2014. So far, the proposed changes do not apply to imported cosmetics. "Non-special use" cosmetics refers to daily use items such as shampoos and fragrances. "The Great Wall wasn't built in a day," said Ms. Zhang. If we get the breakthrough here then that's just wonderful. "China plans to phase out mandatory cosmetics animal testing," Humane Society International wrote in a news release. The practice of testing cosmetics on animals increasingly is putting China behind the international curve, and, perhaps significantly, may hurt exports in the future. In March, European Union regulators announced a ban on the import and sale of cosmetics containing ingredients tested on animals and pledged to push other parts of the world, like China, to accept alternatives. Ms. Zhang's group plans to seize the moment and broadcast the news on the streets of Beijing. She said she and other animal rights advocates would stand outside a major shopping mall on Saturday with information and photos of white rabbits used in testing, chanting slogans against the practice and in favor of the government's plan. They haven't yet decided where. Pointing out that much of the testing involves dropping substances into the eyes of white rabbits, Ms. Zhang said, "We want people to know about the cruelty, to encourage them to buy brands that don't test on animals. And we want to encourage the government to implement this quickly. While the new rules will apply so far only to cosmetics manufactured in China, animal rights advocates are optimistic that they will be expanded. "Once the new system has been established, it may be expanded to include imported products and certain "special use" cosmetics as well," Humane Society International said, citing the China Food and Drug Administration. "This would be a major step toward removing trade barriers between China and the E.U., enabling cruelty-free companies worldwide to sell their products on the Chinese mainland without compromising their "no animal testing" policies," it said.