London - Animals will no longer be used for testing cosmetics in Britain from today after firms agreed to surrender their licences voluntarily, the British government said.
The Home Office minister, Mr George Howarth, is to announce that moves begun in November last year towards ending the practice are now complete. That was when ministers stopped the testing of finished cosmetic products, such as lipstick, on animals with the voluntary agreement of the industry.
The testing of ingredients will also stop after the last remaining companies holding licences agree to give them up, a Home Office spokesman said.