Photo courtesy of The Age

The Panel has raised its concerns with the ACCC over misleading marketing claims by some cosmetic producers that they do not test their products on animals when it is plain that they do. Here the lucrative market of China with its requirement that products be animal tested (that is, on rabbits and mice) has a substantial bearing. But these companies are also sensitive to strong consumer preference in existing markets for products that are not animal tested. Against this background, we see today’s report in The Age newspaper about the push into China of major well-known cosmetic producers. So the challenge is to send an unambiguous message in existing markets about consumer preference, including in respect of misleading marketing claims.