September 20, 2018. Hangzhou, China. The Department for International Trade of the British Consulate-General in Shanghai visited REACH24H headquarters in Hangzhou, meeting with Business and Technical Specialists from Food & Cosmetics and the Marketing Department. This exchange was made within the framework of the UK’s new restructuring plan following Brexit, which will see much of its structural organization adapting, with departments taking over new responsibilities and seeking new partners to help them through this transition period.

REACH24H has cooperated with the British Consulate in the past, yet this meeting provided an opportunity for the teams to discuss new ways of collaboration and technical assistance. Understanding the Department’s current focus on strengthening its relations with organizations like REACH24H to help them further develop their trade relations and enable new products to enter the Chinese market, the discussion this time was centered on cosmetics and China’s requirement for animal testing.

The use of animals to test cosmetics products or their ingredients is banned in the UK –the same as other EU member states –yet despite efforts to convince Chinese authorities to allow alternative testing methods, these have not been successful so far.The Department for International Trade and REACH24H agreed on the relevance of this issue and joint interest in continuing these technical consultations and exchanges, to ultimately bring a positive solution to this complex and delicate issue and allow for improved UK and China trade opportunities.

For more on the issue of animal testing in cosmetics, please feel free check our Chemlinked portal.