The signature handover was preceded by a discussion at the European Parliament hosted by Chris Davies, member of the British Liberal Democrats and since the European elections of 1999 a Member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) of the European Parliament. Dr. Nick Palmer, Director of Policy at the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), Dr. Irmela Ruhdel, head of animal experiments at the German Animal Welfare Association and Dr. Katy Taylor, Scientific Advisor at the BUAV defined the Coalitions` position and informed about the replacement procedures to animal testing which are already available.
Large photo: Just before the debate in the Parliament. Host Chris Davies is standing right in the picture.
Small Picture in the middle: Chris Davies during an interview with Guilia Buttini (BUAV).
Small Right: Michelle Thew, Chief Executive of the BUAV, hands over the signatures to the Representative of the European Committee on Petitions. Photos: Christiane Hohensee
At the end of the meeting, Chris Davies was confident: "The cosmetics industry and others have made great advances in developing more non-animal methods. Despite some existing difficulties I am not convinced by the proposals to relax the sales ban in any way. We can find a way to solve the problem and in the meanwhile enhance the European cosmetic industrys reputation, set a global standard, and - of course - avoid unnecessary suffering of animals".