Urban Decay, China, and their Stance on Animal Testing

*Update as of 6/8/12: They have now proceeded to remove the press release I have referenced below in favor of this regarding their company and China. This of course mentions NOTHING about how their products may be tested on animals in the country.

If you want to look up their animal testing policy, this is what you'll see. Note how they stress that THEY as a company do not test on animals and how they say they won't let others do so unless required by law meaning China can do it but we're being vague.

On their website, the PETA and Leaping Bunny Symbol have been removed to reflect their change in stance. I truly don't believe that because Urban Decay isn't doing the testing, they're absolved of the guilt. It really doesn't matter who is doing what, just that Urban Decay is putting their products up for the possibility of being tested and that completely goes against their former stance of "We don't do animal testing...how could anyone?

I don't use all cruelty free products and I know it, but I'm especially disappointed and annoyed at Urban Decay for their greedy change of stance and the fact that they're trying to do a PR spin on consumers as if we're ignorant and don't really see what's going on. I won't stop using the Urban Decay I've got, but I'm certainly considering not purchasing anymore

Though I don't agree with all the organizations that LUSH collaborates with, I can give them props for their position on expanding on China. Do read My Beauty Bunny's post with the excerpt of LUSH's position.*

Though I know that this will just be adding to the multitude of blog posts on the topic (Do check out Phyrra's thoughts!), I still wanted to add in my two cents on the matter.

Urban Decay just posted a release on their change of stance on animal testing in regards to China and I've included it below for your convenience.

"Urban Decay is going to sell our products in China. Because of China’s policies on animal testing, we know that this will not be a popular decision with some of our loyal customers. But the decision is a thoughtful one.

For 16 years, we have been committed to two key causes: women’s rights, and the fight against animal testing. Our dedication to those causes will not waver.

For those of you unfamiliar with China’s policies, the sticking point is this: the Chinese government reserves the right to conduct animal testing with cosmetic products before the products are approved for use by Chinese citizens. The government has not told us if they have exercised this right with our products. So, our brand does not test on animals, but the Chinese government might conduct a one-time test using our products. Do we like China’s policies? No…and that is really the point. Going into China was a huge decision for Urban Decay. But, we believe that change cannot and will not happen by outside pressure alone in a closed market. Change can only happen from within. When we enter the Chinese market, we will do our part to help make those changes.

When we were considering expanding into China, a group of marketing consultants told us to remove the section of our company history that describes our crusade against animal testing. “It doesn’t mean anything to the Chinese beauty customer,” they said. Of course, we refused. Our “no animal testing” policy is part of who we are, and has been since day one. The news that animal issues don’t even register with the average Chinese consumer was one of the biggest factors in our decision to go there. During Urban Decay’s infancy, we worked hard to inform consumers about animal rights in the United States and Europe. The battleground for animal rights is now in China, and we want to be there to encourage dialogue and provoke change.

We also hope to shed some light on women’s rights issues in China. As a company that caters to a female customer, this is extremely important to us. For one thing, going into China is a way for us to advance women into important professional positions. We will help grow the cosmetics industry, which primarily employs and creates career paths for women. Although workers’ employment rights are a relatively new concept there, progress has been made partially because of pressure from businesses, consumers, and advocacy groups from other countries. Based on this, our belief is that both an outside force and inside pressure for change can result in helping transform both the importance of women and animal testing policies in China. And more importantly, we hope to influence the perspective of the citizens on both of these issues.

If we don’t go to China, other companies without our beliefs will, and the culture will never change. We want to encourage a culture of consumers who care enough to buy cruelty-free products, and who view professional women as role models who influence their lives on a daily basis.

Yes, we are a for-profit company. And yes, we would eventually like to make money in China. But we don’t stand to turn a profit in China for quite a while, partially because the market isn’t quite ready to sustain an untraditional brand like ours. If it were only about the money, we would wait a few years. But our foray into this market is also about participating in an amazing time of change in China. We don’t like animal testing (and neither do the 13 dogs in our office), but we are trying to change the world… even if it is one eye shadow at a time! Sitting on the sidelines isn’t our style. We understand that you might not like our decision, but we hope you can respect it.

For any advocates or Urban Decay fans interested, Urban Decay founding partner Wende Zomnir will host a live chat on urbandecay.com to answer questions about our entry into China"

Now I wouldn't consider myself the bastion of good morals on the issue of animal testing because I do use cosmetics from some brands whose mother company conducts animal testing but still though, I find myself really disappointed in their change of stance because I always thought Urban Decay would stick to their guns on the topic and never do animal testing (even if it's being done by proxy in China). I could easily be seen as too cynical on the topic but there's just a part of me that can't exactly believe all that they're saying. I really would like to have faith that Urban Decay are doing it to improve women and animal rights in the country, but I think there are other ways and means to do it.

I feel like they (and other companies) could have exerted pressure on China and other companies within China because they already produce the cosmetics there.I think that since they already manufacture there, isn't it completely possible to negotiate for better salaries and welfare for the employees working in their factories (similar to the way LUSH tries to) and to maintain constant upkeep on that? It sounds way too much of white knight move to say "if we don't go to China, other companies will and the culture will never change" because Urban Decay is already in China, producing and manufacturing their cosmetics! It reeks of colonialism and essentially insulting the Chinese "because they need education" certainly won't accomplish their goals. If numerous human and civil rights groups, NGOs, political pressure etc hasn't brought about drastic change over YEARS of work, how is it that Urban Decay will?

I think I'm just too skeptical of the move. I really would like to know what they are currently doing with improving women's rights in the factories in China that they use. I'm copying and pasting the comment I wrote on Temptalia's post on the press release but I do wonder why not form a coalition with other cosmetics companies to negotiate a pull out of their manufacturing unless the mandate was changed? I do feel like there could have been other alternatives to this. Their release just speaks of PR smoothing over and I don't know if I believe what they're saying.

Added: I had a nice chat with Alyson of Gloss Menagerie and we talked about the question of what their end goal has to be. I mean if they aren't going to make a profit for some time, they aren't necessarily a company that would appeal to the Chinese market, AND they're alienating MANY of their customers, they better have one damn good reason and there's a part of me that doesn't believe it's just to improve women's rights and animal rights in general. Are they intending on trying to end animal testing in China? If so, their statement does reek of colonialism and trying to "educate" the uneducated in China on the issue and I feel skeptical that this attitude will go over well with the Chinese.

What are your thoughts on the change?