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French cosmetic testing appeal rejected
Europe's highest court has rejected the French appeal against the cosmetic testing ban.
At the end of May, the European Court of Human Justice rejected the French appeal against the EU legislation banning the testing of cosmetics on animals. The French government launched their appeal in 2003 on the grounds that the ban was incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules and that it would damage European business interests.
The 2003 Directive bans the marketing of cosmetics that have been tested on animals – even those imported for outside the EU - from March 2009, although an exception is made for three specified types of animal testing, for which the ban would not come into effect until 2013.