California governor signs bill banning sale of animal-tested cosmetics

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Friday signed a bill banning the sale of cosmetics that undergo animal testing, making California the first state to approve such a ban.

The bill prohibits manufacturers from trying to “import for profit, sell, or offer for sale” any cosmetic that is tested on animals. The law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Products that undergo testing on animals before that date can still be sold in the state.

The legislation was among dozens of bills that Brown signed on Friday, according to the governor’s website.

The bill passed the state legislature earlier this month after it was narrowed in scope, due to resistance to a previous version from industry groups.

“The supply-chain focus has helped to remove the majority of significant opposition,” the bill’s author, state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D), told The Los Angeles Times earlier in September.

Animal rights activists celebrated Friday’s bill signing.

The bill’s passage “gives greater impetus for [the cosmetics] industry to push for changes in other countries,” a Humane Society representative told The Huffington Post.