Even as the European Union (eu) is set to ban most new cosmetics tested on animals from 2009 and block their import, animal rights groups fear that some trials -- claimed to be the most harmful -- would be allowed for longer.
Danish environment minister Hans Christian Schmidt says, "To prevent the import of products that are tested in third countries, it is also very important that an agreement is reached on the ban on marketing." The uk's Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has resented the law allowing three of the 14 tests used to continue till 2013 with a potential two-year extension. Marlou Heinen, deputy head of the society's international department, says: "The problem is that these are the most painful tests that the animals have to endure."