A Comparative Legal Perspective on Cosmetic Testing on Animals in India and Canada

The testing of cosmetic products on animals has been a long-standing debate as its head on conflict between the issue of animal welfare, consumer safety and scientific temper. Animals have long borne the burden of ensuring human safety while the cosmetic industry globally generates billions of dollars of revenue annually. This paper examines the legislative and administrative frameworks governing cosmetic testing on animals in two countries- India and Canada, that have both taken significant steps to restrict such testing, yet differ substantially in their regulatory architecture, administrative mechanisms, and the depth of their commitments to animal protection. Studying the legislative framework, administrative guidelines, government reports, this work deals with the comparative analysis of working infrastructure of India and Canada. This paper traces the relevant statutory provisions of both the countries and the approach of the government in embedding the ban on cosmetic testing of products on animals. It examines the data on use of animals in such testing methods and identifies the loopholes. The paper further compares the legislative and administrative structures on lines of similarity and divergence between the two countries. The paper concludes with observations on the effectiveness of current frameworks and a set of recommendations aimed at strengthening animal protection in the cosmetics sector globally. This research is particularly timely as Canada’s ban on cosmetic animal testing came into force only in December 2023, making the comparative experience of India, which has maintained a prohibition since 2014, especially instructive. Together, these two countries offer a window into the possibilities and challenges of regulatory reform in a sector where science, commerce, and ethics remain in constant tension.