Policy Position Statement

 

Animal Testing on Raw Materials and Finished Products

 

This is the question all honest chemists dread.

 

1. In the past (before the concern over animal testing) some of the excipients and some of the actives have been tested on animals. This is no longer conducted for these components.

 

2. Both the TGA and NICNAS (Australian regulatory agencies which control the use of ingredients used in therapeutics and cosmetics, respectively) require toxicity and safety testing on new raw materials before they will allow their use in Australia.
   While the industry is developing non-animal methods this still does not completely eliminate the need for animal testing.

 

3. New Directions Australia does not test raw materials on animals either initially or as a routine test.

 

4. None of New Directions Australia finished formulations are tested on animals, either initially or as a routine test, except, of course, humans in controlled efficacy tests.

 

Questions frequently asked.

 

I was aware of that, but these days there are alternatives to using animals in safety & toxicity tests.

We know of these alternate tests and when available the industry uses these tests in preference to animal testing.

 

So do you mean that another party tests the raw materials you use in your products on animals?

No – we do not (and have never) tested raw materials on animals as a routine test. All I have said is that sometime in the past there was (by someone, somewhere) some animal tests conducted on some of the raw materials we currently use. We cannot reverse what has happened and also, just as importantly, we cannot do without these materials to provide the safest, most efficacious product we can.

 

Are these results for tests done on this particular batch of raw material? Or are they previously established toxicity reports, and if so when were they done and by whom? (i.e. 1 month ago, 6 months ago, more than 5 years ago and tested by you or another pharmaceutical company). I am in the process of trying to establish cruelty-free certification and need these points clarified as part of my application.

I would greatly appreciate your response to this and am hoping that these tests were conducted more than 5 years ago.
Results we display for toxicity testing are NOT routine tests conducted by anyone (either by the supply company, by us or on our behalf), but are previously established toxicity reports used to register the new raw materials with regulatory authorities before they come to market, and usually conducted in excess of 5 years ago. I can say it is in excess of 5 years ago because Australia, generally (as we have no local industry for anything except for established materials, essential oils and extracts), receives new raw materials from Europe and the United States and it would take at least five years for these new raw materials to reach the market in Australia.