Brazil's the first step to ban use of animals in laboratory tests

Now he can sleep in peace, at least in São Paulo.

Good news to the protectors of animals!

São Paulo is the first state of Brazil to adopt a legislation that bans the use of animals in tests for the manufacture of cosmetic products.

The bill 777/2013, approved in December 2013 by the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, is authored by state Rep. Feliciano Son (PEN) and was sanctioned today (23) by the state's governor, Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB) .

The legislation ,  should be published in the Official Gazette on Friday (24) and still be regulated by the executive power, but already provides a  fine of over R$ 1 million per pet used to  the  institution that  breach the rules and about R$ 40 thousand for the professional who does not follow the new rules.

The inspection will be done by the State Department of Health should still start this semester. Animal trials involving health issues and medical advances are still tolerated.

According Alckmin and Feliciano, this type of ban already exists  in countries of the European Union, Israel and India.

Feliciano says that the bill came after the rescue of 178 beagles and rabbits at the Royal Institute in São Roque, in October 2013.

Also according to Feliciano, the approval of a federal law that would end animal testing for cosmetics is difficult, the most probably way to abolish this practice in the country would be through state laws.

Now, Congressman plans to override the veto of the Governor Alckmin to the Labeling Act (PL 479/09), which ensures transparency to the consumer about the product you are buying. The law requires the company report on the label if the product was tested on animals and if contains some component of animal origin.

Feliciano Son says that ban the use of animals in teaching will be the next step, and finally the exploitation of them in research for drugs to be a more complex situation, would be the final stage.

Passage of the law, however, should not affect large companies in the sector, who no longer use these methods, according to activist Odette Miranda, member of antiviviseccionista committee and professor of the Faculty of Medicine of ABC.

According to her, those animals still used have had to adapt to a 2013 decision of the European Union no longer import cosmetic companies that use animals. Brazil is a major exporter of cosmetics in the world.

Nevertheless, she said that there are still companies that didn't adapt." Many smaller companies use this practice. It is a cruel practice because you put chemicals in the eye of the albino rabbit, which has a thinner cornea, and is watching the ulceration. Or you do a toxicity test by examining how many mice die, "she said. For her, the penalty is a " big step in terms of ethics."

The president of GAP Project (Protection of Great Apes), Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian, stated that " the weight of the State of São Paulo is the Brazilian GDP, as well as the concentration of sanitizing this territory and pharmaceutical, cosmetics industries magnified the importance of this decision." For him, the State of São Paulo is giving a lesson to the world that ethics and compassion are above any other interests and considerations.

The activist Nina Rose Jacob agrees and hopes "that soon the general and unrestricted ban on the exploitation of animals for testing, studies and experiments to establish in our country. Cosmetics and hygiene should be only the beginning of transformation."

Alckmin received more than 30 million requests from all over Brazil urging passage of the bill. According Feliciano Son, this happened because the Country no longer supports this type of cruelty and this victory is for all activists and all those who were in favor of animals.

We'll continue watching!

Font: http://www.anda.jor.br/23/01/2014/alckmin-sanciona-lei-que-proibe-o-uso-de-animais-em-testes-para-cosmeticos
http://www.noticiaanimal.com.br/viewpost.php?idpost=2217

Image: Internet