Plan to ban animal derivatives in cosmetics sparks alarm in the US

Date: 06/03/1997

By Michael Mann

AMERICAN officials claim recent EU moves to ban the use of animal derivatives in the manufacture of cosmetics could cause untold damage to a number of US firms.

While the two sides continue their tortuous negotiations on the recognition of each other's veterinary inspection standards, officials stress animal products used in cosmetics will not be covered by the framework.

“A number of ingredients could be imported into the Union but not used in cosmetic products. We are talking about large sums of money and this situation could rapidly turn ugly,” said a US diplomat.

Late in January, the European Commission adopted a directive which banned the sale of cosmetics derived from certain tissues of cattle, sheep and goats, including the spinal cord and eyes.

The move came in response to growing public concern about the possible spread of the cattle brain disorder BSE to humans in the form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).

The Commission stressed at the time that it was merely putting into a legal form what the European cosmetics industry had been doing for years.

But American officials fear that, unable to secure sufficient raw materials on the domestic market, the industry may turn to imports from the US - and could find that these contain ingredients which run contrary to Union law.

“Our industry will be concerned. Are genuine BSE concerns being addressed, or do these measures go too far?” said an official.

A spokesman for Colipa (the European Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association) denied there was a problem at this stage, saying: “The Americans may be panicking unnecessarily.”

There is no doubt that the interests at stake are enormous. Household names such as Avon, Proctor & Gamble and Estée Lauder are all US-owned firms.

Meanwhile, negotiators from both the US and Canada were in Brussels late this week trying to move closer to an agreement with the EU on the mutual recognition of veterinary hygiene standards.

The Union averted a major trade war with the Americans and a number of other trading nations shortly before Christmas by agreeing to delay the deadline for a deal until 1 April.

But in a series of meetings which began at the start of this week, it has become clear that a number of obstacles still stand in the way of an agreement by the new deadline.

One of the greatest difficulties is over which areas of the EU can be defined as disease-free. Despite the single market, the recent outbreak of swine fever in the Netherlands has forced the US to single out the Dutch for special treatment.

Central to the agreement will be the question of whether meat from BSE-free countries should be treated in the same way as produce from countries where cows have been infected.