Nature’s Gate joins a growing list of companies to boycott China over animal testing

The California-based company said it was prepared to lose potential sales in the country rather than have to carry out the required tests, which include ocular tests on laboratory animals to fulfill regulations to enable them to sell there.

The company says its decision is the result of extensive negotiations with animal rights group Peta regarding the regulations in China and the treatment of animals in research laboratories there.

Nature's Gate joins growing number of companies to pull out​

Peta claims it has already played a significant part on the decision by companies such as John Paul Mitchell Systems, Pangea Organics and Dermalogica to put an end to selling their products in China.

Meanwhile, other companies have also pledged to avoid expanding their businesses into the market, including Yes To, NYX Cosmetics and Urban Decay, helping to provide continued impetus to the campaign and further pressure on the China regulatory authorities.

"PETA is working to help Chinese officials modernize their testing requirements, but companies can—and should—stay out of that market until no animal is poisoned or blinded,"​ said PETA senior vice president of laboratory investigations, Kathy Guillermo.

Korean cosmetics avoids establishing business in China​

But it is not just US companies that are deciding to pull out of the China market, last week Korea-based Aromatica said it was abandoning the sale of its products in the country because of animal testing requirements.

Aromatica has been preparing to launch its products in China for the past two years, with contracts signed with the export agency and were waiting for two products to pass the sanitary inspection.

However, the cosmetics firm claims it was not informed of conducting animal testing on its products by any of the Chinese agencies, which was implicit in its decision to pull out of the market.