New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed legislation to end the sale of cosmetics in New Jersey that have been newly tested on animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats.
 
State Senator Joseph Lagana, D-Paramus, and State Assmeblyman Anthony Verrelli, D-Trenton,  were the primary sponsors of the legislation, which passed unanimously in both the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly with an extensive list of bipartisan cosponsors.
 
“In the passage of this law, New Jersey has recognized overwhelming public opinion that animals should not suffer to test cosmetic products or ingredients,” said Vicki Katrinak, director of Animal Research and Testing for the Humane Society of the United States. “With a growing number of non-animal test methods available, there is no ethical justification to continue harming animals for the sake of shampoo, mascara, or aftershave. Thank you to Assemblyman Verrelli and Senator Lagana for their leadership on this bill and Governor Murphy for signing this important bipartisan legislation.”
 
Several companies selling or manufacturing cosmetics in New Jersey signed on in support of this legislation including Lush, The Herbs and the Bees, and US Organic Group, joining nearly 1,000 other brands and companies supporting federal humane cosmetics legislation.
 
New Jersey is now the eighth state in the country, and the fifth this year, to pass a law to ban the sale of animal-tested cosmetics following California, Nevada, Illinois, Virginia, Maryland, Maine and Hawaii.
 
Earlier this year, Mexico also banned animal testing for cosmetics.