The Leaping Bunny is the most trusted cruelty free certification for non-animal tested products. More than 700 companies across the globe already hold Leaping Bunny certification, providing real choice for ethical consumers who want to identify and buy products that are free from animal testing. Achieving Leaping Bunny certification shows consumers that businesses have the procedures and policies in place to enable and verify their cruelty-free claims, producing products not tested on animals.
Cruelty Free International
Implemented in
- Africa
- Asia / Pacific
- Europe and Central Asia
- Latin America / Caribbean
- Middle East
- North America
Sectors of activity
Consumer Goods, Scientific Research, Development and Innovation
Type of initiative
Education & Awareness Raising, Research, Analysis, Assessment
Type of lead actor
Civil society
Start date
01/01/2015
Submitted on:
30/01/2018Objectives
The Leaping Bunny logo is issued for use by companies which produce cosmetics, personal care, household and cleaning products which are free from animal testing and comply with the Leaping Bunny certification criteria. The Leaping Bunny is the most trusted cruelty free certification for non-animal tested products. More than 700 companies across the globe already hold Leaping Bunny certification, providing real choice for ethical consumers who want to identify and buy products that are free from animal testing.
Achieving Leaping Bunny certification shows consumers that businesses are genuinely committed to producing products that are not tested on animals and that businesses have procedures and policies in place to enable you to verify your cruelty free claims.
Today, Cruelty Free International and our EU partners certify companies around the world. For companies with a Head Office in the US and Canada the programme is managed by our US partners, the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). Regardless of where a company is certified, Leaping Bunny certification applies internationally, giving shoppers around the world confidence that companies meet ‘the gold standard’ for cruelty free products.
A 2015 Nielsen survey revealed that “not tested on animals” was the most important packaging claim for shoppers when purchasing beauty products. The Leaping Bunny has become the globally recognised and trusted symbol for cruelty free consumer products.
Meeting our rigorous criteria will allow a company to provide shoppers with the best assurance that business products are not animal tested. Our highly experienced team is on hand for certified companies, and able to offer support for legal, political, technical and scientific animal testing questions
80% of the world still allows animals to be used in cruel tests for cosmetics, and almost all countries still allow animal testing for cleaning products. Countless rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice and rats suffer and die worldwide in routine animal tests for the ingredients that go into deodorant, lipstick and washing up liquid. However it no longer has to be this way; animal tests are being replaced with quicker, cheaper and more reliable non-animal methods. Companies worldwide can increasingly use ingredients which are already known to be safe whilst also meeting the demand for a more ethical and sustainability focus from their products and goods.
Activities
Hundreds of cosmetics, personal care and cleaning brands are certified cruelty free under our Leaping Bunny programme. It’s the only globally recognised guarantee that a brand has made a genuine commitment to ending animal testing for its products. Certified companies must meet our rigorous criteria, including independent audits, before we let them display the Leaping Bunny logo.
Our team of experts continue to accept new applications from businesses who want to be certified with the Leaping Bunny, which means our work continues on a daily basis. There are 9 steps businesses need to take in order to secure the certification:
1: Checking the eligibility of an application
2: Expression of Interest sent to Cruelty Free International
3: Select a fixed cut-off date, a date you choose after which no animal testing takes place on your own-brand eligible products and ingredients
4: Contact your product manufacturer - Obtain written confirmation from product manufacturers to confirm the products and ingredients they supply to you meet your fixed cut-off date (send them our sample Declarations or your own documentation
5: Check you have an effective administration system to ensure you keep the information on your products and ingredients up to date
6: Application - Complete the Leaping Bunny certification application form, attach a copy of your ‘no animal testing’ policy (if applicable), provide a description of your supplier monitoring system and provide a sample product declaration & raw material declaration for your products for us to check.
7: Application reviewed
8: Finalising application process
9: Bi-yearly audit
Cruelty Free International also continues to conduct polling and data collection regarding public opinion on the growing demand for ethical goods and products not tested on animals. We also promote and showcase the companies which have received the Leaping Bunny Certification, ensuring consumers can access up to date information on which products and companies are cruelty-free in order to promote positive behavioural change.
Impact and Results
For over two decades, we have been certifying companies as cruelty free under the Leaping Bunny programme. During this time it was the only way consumers could be sure they were buying products that were not tested on animals. And the Leaping Bunny continues to be the best way you can be sure you are buying truly ‘cruelty free’ beauty products. In order to become Leaping Bunny certified, companies must meet our rigorous criteria:
They must apply a fixed cut-off date – this is an immoveable date, after which the company will no longer conduct or commission animal tests for cosmetics (i.e. where an ingredient was first used in a cosmetic or that is its main use) – anywhere in the world
They cannot purchase cosmetics ingredients animal-tested after their fixed cut-off date – anywhere in their supply chain
They must set up a monitoring system to ensure their suppliers comply with their fixed cut-off date
They must open up their monitoring system to regular independent audits to check they continue to comply with their fixed cut-off date for all their cosmetics, including any new ones.
All Leaping Bunny certified companies must meet these criteria for their entire product range, and for every country they sell in. The criteria apply irrespective of the toxicological purpose of a particular test.
Cruelty Free International and our partners at the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments were instrumental in achieving the ground-breaking European ban on animal testing for cosmetic and toiletry (‘cosmetic’) products and ingredients.
From 11 March 2009, the EU banned the testing, within the EU, of cosmetic ingredients – irrespective of whether there were non-animal alternatives. It had already banned the testing in the EU of cosmetic products. The bans are known as ‘the testing bans’.
From 11 March 2013, the EU completed the ban on the sale of cosmetics animal-tested after that date anywhere in the world. The ban applies to both cosmetics products and ingredients, again irrespective of whether there are alternatives. It is known as the ‘marketing ban’.
The EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics has been a hugely important step forward, if properly interpreted. But until we achieve a meaningful, global ban on animal testing, the Leaping Bunny continues to be the only guarantee that animals are not still being used to test the cosmetic ingredients in a company’s products. The Leaping Bunny has a really important influence in achieving a global ban.