Animal lovers rejoice! Animal rights activists all over the world breathe a sigh of relief this month as the EU ban on the sale of animal-tested products finally goes into effect.

The 11th of March will be celebrated by animal lovers for years to come as a day of victory!

What a relief! At long last, the European Union wakes up to the idea that there are far better, less brutal ways to test the safety of products than to harm animals. Let’s hope the rest of the world takes similar action soon!

Paul Penders International adopted a ‘no animal testing policy’ more than 30 years ago when I personally witnessed the cruel treatment of rabbits in a cosmetics testing laboratory.

“… I can only remember thinking about the rabbits and how evil animal testing was. Why on earth should these animals be force-fed shampoo when no rational person would pick up a bottle and drain it down their throat? What was the point of all this unnecessary suffering? I made up my mind there and then, that none of my products would EVER be tested on animals, no matter the consequences.” (to read more of Paul’s autobiography, click here).

As of March 2013, the new European ban makes it illegal to sell any personal care products that have been tested on animals – no matter where in the world those tests were done. That includes all beauty products – from high end to your local department store brands as well as all toiletries from soap to toothpaste.

It almost didn’t happen.

The EU Commission received so much pressure so that Commissioner Tonio Borg was considering applications for still further delay. As a last ditch effort starting in 2011, celebrities enlisted in the No Cruel Cosmetics campaign including Sir Paul McCartney, Morrissey and Sienna Miller, after it became clear the final phase of the ban might be delayed for up to ten years.

For the last 23 years, we’ve applauded the efforts of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) as they work tirelessly towards the goal of ending all experimentation on animals. First established in 1990, the organization now represents 26 animal welfare groups in 24 EU states.

The efforts date back even farther. Founded in 1898 by Frances Power Cobbe, an Irish writer and suffragette, The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV). In 1973, the BUAV brought the use of animals in cosmetics tests to UK public attention for the first time, encouraging people to shop cruelty-free. This was followed up by the BUAV’s popular ‘Choose Cruelty Free’ campaign in the 1980s.

According to the ECEAU, final success was due to the work of Tonio Borg, the new European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy. "The former European Commissioner in charge of the EU’s cosmetics regulations had been considering recommendations to delay or weaken the ban, allowing the cosmetics industry to continue testing cosmetic products and ingredients on animals until they could find alternative methods.”

As we now know, alternative tests for cosmetics are already available. Thankfully, Commissioner Borg ruled that the ban should go forward and now it will be integrated into the national law of each EU Member State.

We rejoice with the millions across the world who stand up for an end to cruelty to animals.

By Teviot Fairservis.

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