Argos becomes BUAV Approved

Question

I had this sent to me a few weeks ago so apologies if this is old news. Argos becomes BUAV Approved on its own brand cosmetics, joining Superdrug, M&S, Co-op.

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Argos becomes BUAV Approved

The BUAV is delighted to announce that Argos, the UK's leading general merchandise retailer, has joined other major high street retailers such as Marks and Spencers and been approved under the BUAV's internationally recognised Humane Cosmetics Standard ( H CS), for not testing its products on animals.

Argos, the multi-channel retailer, sells general merchandise and products for the home from over 700 stores and the internet throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland . Argos ' own brand make-up and cosmetic product range is approved under the BUAV scheme and the globally recognised Leaping Bunny Logo now appears on the company's website and in its catalogue. The Logo symbolises an extensive independent audit process and guarantees that no animal testing has occurred in any part of the product or its ingredients after a fixed cut-off date. A fixed cut-off date is a date after which a company will not accept animal testing of any of its ingredients for cosmetic purposes.  

Like all of the BUAV's approved companies, Argos recognises the importance of offering a guarantee to its customers that its products are entirely cruelty free. Argos approved products include gift packs which are ideal for birthdays and special occasions and are available at  www.argos.co. uk. 

Seventy nine per cent of UK shoppers said they would swap to a brand that was not animal tested if they discovered that their existing brand was tested on animals in a survey carried out by Opinion Research Business for the BUAV.

BUAV Chief Executive, Michelle Thew said: "We are delighted that high street giants such as Argos are responding to the growing consumer concern over cruelly animal tested cosmetics and toiletries. We applaud Argos , the first catalogue company to be approved by us, for taking this step to prove its cruelty-free retailer status. The BUAV's Leaping Bunny Logo is the absolute gold standard in cruelty-free products." 

Maria Thompson, Commercial Director, H ome Retail Group said "We offer clear information and products to customers to help them make responsible choices. We are very pleased to be able to promote our own brand make-up and cosmetic range which meets the internationally accepted guarantee of cruelty free products"

Please visit the BUAV website www.buav.org for more information.

ENDS

For further information contact Sarah Kite at sarah.kite@buav. org  or 44(0) 207 700 4888 and out of hours on + 44 (0)7850 510 955 or visit our web site: www.buav.org. 

Notes:

The BUAV has been campaigning for over 100 years to achieve a world where nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals. We are committed to achieving our aims through reliable and reasoned evidence-based debate. 

In order to attain The BUAV Humane Cosmetics Standard ( H CS) and Humane Household Products Standard ( H H PS) and gain the right to use the logo, retailers or manufacturers must pledge that 1) neither they nor their suppliers will conduct or commission animal testing 2) that they will apply a fixed cut-off date (FCOD) as company policy 3) that they agree to open up their supply chains to full independent audit. It means that neither the final product, or crucially, any of the ingredients, have been tested on animals after a fixed cut off date, thereby demonstrating the company's commitment to ending animal testing for cosmetics and household products. The BUAV's H umane Cosmetics and H ousehold Products Standards Leaping Bunny logo is internationally recognised and patented cruelty-free certification. For more information on the auditing process and a full list of approved companies visit www.gocrueltyfree. org. 

Statistics

According to an opinion poll carried out by BUAV and Co-op Retail in 2001, 83% of women in the UK would be in favour of a Europe-wide ban on the sale of cosmetics and make-up that are tested on animals.        

According to a BUAV poll conducted by Opinion Research Business in 2004, 79% of people they asked said they would be likely to swap to a brand that was not animal tested if they discovered that their existing brand was tested on animals.

Cosmetic testing was banned in the UK in 1998. H owever most leading brands cannot currently claim cruelty-free status as the products and/or ingredients are manufactured and tested overseas. The Government decided to stop granting licences for cosmetics tests on animals, because the suffering caused was not justified given the trivial nature of the products tested. 

"Tests on animals have led to around 100 drugs being thought potentially useful for stroke; not one has proved effective in humans. You don't need to be a balaclava-wearing animal rights activist to question the value of animal studies in this area of medical research."

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