A cruelty free claim on EU cosmetics is legally awkward for a reason most brands never hear: animal testing for cosmetic purposes has been banned across the EU since 2013. Every compliant product on the shelf is already free of cosmetic animal testing, so a claim that presents it as a distinguishing feature runs straight into the rule that claims must not be based on mere compliance with the law.
Vegan claims are a different problem. There is no legal definition of vegan in EU cosmetic law, no annex to check and no approved wording, which leaves the claim entirely dependent on your ingredient documentation. Both claims are commercially valuable and both are worth keeping, but they need to be phrased and evidenced carefully. This guide explains what each one can legally mean, what the evidence file has to contain, and what changes when the new rules on sustainability labels take effect.
Key takeaways
- Animal testing for cosmetics is already prohibited in the EU under Article 18, with the marketing ban complete since 11 March 2013.
- Claims must not be based on mere compliance with legal requirements, which is why not tested on animals is treated as a problematic claim on an EU pack.
- The picture is complicated by REACH, where some ingredients can still require animal data for worker and environmental safety, so absolute cruelty free statements are hard to defend.
- Vegan has no legal definition in cosmetic law. It means no animal derived ingredients, and the evidence is supplier declarations, not a certificate you can buy.
- Common hidden animal derived ingredients include carmine, beeswax, lanolin, shellac, silk, collagen, keratin and some stearic acid.
- Under Directive (EU) 2024/825, sustainability labels that are not based on a certification scheme or established by public authorities cannot be displayed from 27 September 2026.
- All claims still have to meet the six common criteria of Regulation (EU) 655/2013 and be substantiated in the product information file.
Why cruelty free is not a straightforward claim
Article 18 of Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 prohibits placing on the EU market cosmetic products where the finished product or its ingredients have been tested on animals for cosmetic purposes. The testing ban on finished products applied from 2004, the ingredient testing ban from 2009, and the full marketing ban from March 2013.
That means the claim describes the legal baseline. The Commission technical document on cosmetic claims is explicit that claims conveying the idea that a product has a specific benefit when this benefit is mere compliance with minimum legal requirements are not allowed. A pack that says not tested on animals suggests other compliant products might be, which is both untrue and unfair to competitors.
The REACH complication
There is a second reason to be careful. Cosmetic ingredients are also chemicals, and under REACH a registrant can be required to generate data for worker safety or environmental protection, including animal studies, for substances that are used in cosmetics. EU courts have confirmed that this obligation is separate from the cosmetic testing ban. A brand claiming that absolutely no animal testing has ever been carried out on any ingredient in its supply chain is making a statement it usually cannot verify.
Certification schemes handle this differently. Programmes such as the Leaping Bunny standard use a fixed cut-off date and supplier declarations rather than an absolute claim about the history of every molecule. If you want to communicate on this topic, working within a recognised scheme is a stronger position than writing your own wording.
What vegan means in practice
Because there is no legal definition, the working meaning is that the product contains no ingredients of animal origin and no animal derived processing aids. The difficulty is that animal origin is often invisible in the INCI name.
| Ingredient | Origin | Common vegan alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Carmine (CI 75470) | Insect derived | Iron oxides, plant pigments, synthetic colourants |
| Cera Alba (beeswax) | Bee derived | Candelilla wax, carnauba wax, sunflower wax |
| Lanolin | Sheep wool | Plant butters, squalane from olive or sugarcane |
| Shellac | Insect derived | Plant based film formers |
| Collagen, keratin, silk amino acids | Animal derived unless stated | Plant proteins, biotechnology derived equivalents |
| Stearic acid, glycerin | Can be animal or plant derived | Confirmed vegetable grade with supplier declaration |
The last row is where most vegan claims fail. Stearic acid, glycerin, squalane and several emulsifiers exist in both tallow derived and plant derived grades under the same INCI name. Without a supplier declaration you do not know which one is in your product, and neither does your safety assessor. Our guide to INCI list preparation explains why the ingredient list alone never answers sourcing questions.
Vegan is not a safety claim and does not reduce your obligations. A vegan formula still needs a full safety assessment, and plant derived does not mean low risk. Botanical extracts are among the most common causes of allergy in cosmetic products, and essential oils carry declarable fragrance allergens that have nothing to do with animal origin.
The evidence file
Both claims are substantiated by documents rather than by tests. A defensible file contains:
- A written declaration from each raw material supplier stating whether the material and its processing aids are of animal origin, ideally referencing the specific grade code.
- Confirmation for compound raw materials, especially fragrance compounds, which can contain animal derived materials such as beeswax absolute or civet notes.
- Manufacturing controls addressing cross contamination where the same equipment handles non vegan products.
- Certification records if you use a scheme logo, including the scope of the certificate and its expiry.
- A dated claim substantiation summary in the product information file, linking each claim to its evidence, as required by Regulation (EU) 655/2013.
Keep the declarations current. Suppliers change grades and sources without changing the trade name, and a vegan claim supported by a declaration from four years ago is weak. Our note on the product information file covers how claim evidence sits alongside the rest of the documentation.
What changes with the new consumer rules
Directive (EU) 2024/825, which amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, tightens the rules on environmental and sustainability communication from 27 September 2026. Two provisions matter here.
- Sustainability labels may only be displayed where they are based on a certification scheme or established by public authorities. A logo you designed in house to signal ethical sourcing will not qualify.
- Generic claims such as eco friendly, conscious or kind to the planet cannot be used without demonstrated excellence in environmental performance.
Vegan and cruelty free claims are not environmental claims as such, but they usually appear inside the same block of ethical positioning, and self created logos are common in that block. Our article on green claims and greenwashing covers what has to change in artwork and listings before the deadline.
Wording that holds up
Practical phrasing that satisfies the criteria while keeping the commercial message:
- Formulated without animal derived ingredients, supported by supplier declarations, rather than an unqualified vegan badge you cannot evidence.
- Certified by a named scheme, with the certificate on file and in date, which is stronger than any wording you invent.
- Explaining the EU position honestly in longer form content, for example noting that animal testing for cosmetics has been prohibited in the EU since 2013, which is educational rather than a comparative pack claim.
- Avoiding absolute statements about the entire supply chain that a REACH data requirement could contradict.
The same logic applies to free from wording, which we cover in free from claims on cosmetics, and to the general criteria in allowed cosmetic claims.
Bringing it all together
Vegan and cruelty free sell products, and neither claim is prohibited. What the EU framework does is set conditions: do not present legal compliance as a benefit, do not use a self invented sustainability label, and hold documentary evidence for whatever you assert.
For vegan, that evidence is a complete set of current supplier declarations covering every raw material including fragrance, plus controls on shared equipment. For cruelty free, the safest route is a recognised certification scheme rather than your own wording, because the scheme carries a defined standard and a cut-off date that you can point to. Both are achievable, and both need to be done before the artwork is printed rather than after a complaint.
Lexora reviews claim sets against the common criteria, checks the substantiation file and flags wording that will not survive scrutiny. Start with a cosmetic claims compliance check, or have the artwork checked with a cosmetic label review.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put not tested on animals on an EU cosmetic pack?
It is treated as a problematic claim because animal testing for cosmetic purposes is already prohibited across the EU, and claims must not be based on mere compliance with legal requirements. A recognised certification scheme logo is a stronger and safer way to communicate on the subject than your own wording.
Is there a legal definition of vegan cosmetics in the EU?
No. Cosmetic law does not define vegan, so the claim means what you can evidence: no ingredients or processing aids of animal origin. Because there is no standard, the strength of the claim depends entirely on the completeness of your supplier declarations.
Which ingredients most often break a vegan claim?
Carmine, beeswax, lanolin, shellac, silk and animal derived collagen or keratin are the obvious ones. The more common failures are dual origin materials such as stearic acid, glycerin and squalane, which share an INCI name across animal and plant derived grades, and fragrance compounds containing animal derived notes.
Does a vegan product still need a full safety assessment?
Yes. Vegan describes sourcing, not safety. Every cosmetic product placed on the EU market needs a safety assessment and a product information file regardless of its ingredient origins, and plant derived materials carry their own allergy and stability questions.
Can I use my own vegan logo on the pack?
From 27 September 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/825 prohibits displaying sustainability labels that are not based on a certification scheme or established by public authorities. A self designed ethical badge falls into that category, so plan to move to a recognised scheme or to plain substantiated wording.
What evidence do authorities expect for these claims?
Dated supplier declarations covering animal origin for every raw material and processing aid, confirmation for compound materials such as fragrance, records addressing cross contamination, and any certification documents. The substantiation has to be held in the product information file and produced on request.
