Avon is known for its leading efforts to eliminate animal testing. On June 2, 1989, Avon became the first major cosmetic company to announce a permanent end to animal testing on all Avon-manufactured products. Avon independently substantiates the safety of its products without any animal testing.

In place of animal testing, Avon’s safety evaluation process uses data from in-vitro tests (non-animal test tube/cell culture methods) or clinical tests (on human volunteers), and references any existing external animal-testing data. Avon does not require its suppliers to conduct animal testing on raw ingredients or finished products.

Avon has for decades worked to advance alternatives to animal testing, partnering with scientific organizations, other cosmetic companies and trade organizations such as the Personal Care Products Council.

• Avon’s Vice President of Product Safety & Integrity serves on the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Institute of the In Vitro Sciences, Inc., a non-profit research and testing organization dedicated to the advancement of in vitro (non-animal) methods worldwide.
• Avon continues to support research into alternatives conducted by the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) in the U.K., the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S., and the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing.
• Avon recently became a Founding Sponsor of the American Society for Cellular Computational Toxicology.

Avon will conduct animal testing when required by law, at the request of government health or medical authorities, and only after having first attempted to persuade the requesting authority to accept non-animal test data. In 2011, less than 0.3 percent of the more than 9,000 products sold by Avon were tested as required by law in a small handful of countries. Avon’s goal is to get this number to zero.

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