Hawaii-2018-SB2113-Introduced

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that according to Cruelty Free International, for more than fifty years, animals have been used in painful tests to assess the safety of certain chemicals used in cosmetic products and household cleaners. Consumers and scientists have become increasingly skeptical about the necessity and validity of animal testing for cosmetics and household products because animal testing alternatives are available that are cheaper, faster, and better able to predict human reactions.

For example, testing chemicals for skin irritation does not require rabbits to be subjected to toxic levels of the substances because human cells can be grown in vitro to test the chemicals. These tests are more relevant to human safety because they are tested on human cells, not rabbit cells. Similarly, eye irritation tests no longer require the eyes of live animals because corneas can be cultured in vitro for testing or procured from the eyes of animals already killed for food production.

The legislature further finds that according to Cruelty Free International, hundreds of cosmetic and household product companies have voluntarily ceased animal testing. However, without any laws banning animal testing, countless animals are vulnerable to cruel tests. There are no federal laws in the United States that prohibit the use of animals for cosmetic or household product testing or require companies to first look to available test alternatives. On the state level, three states require alternative test methods, if available, to be used for cosmetic and household product testing. In 2000, California became the first state in the nation to mandate the use of alternative test methods, and New Jersey and New York followed in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

The purpose of this Act is to prohibit manufacturers, contract testing facilities, and research facilities in Hawaii from using animal test methods for which an alternative test method is available.

SECTION 2. Chapter 142, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part IV to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§142- Animal testing; alternative methods. (a) No manufacturer, contract testing facility, or research facility shall use an animal test method in this State if an alternative method is available that provides information of equivalent or better scientific quality and relevance than the animal test method.

(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of test methods or strategies that do not use animals and are not alternative methods as defined under subsection (e).

(d) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the exclusive remedy for any violation of this section shall be a civil action for injunctive relief brought by the attorney general in the circuit court of the circuit where the alleged violation occurred. The court may impose a civil fine not to exceed $5,000 on the manufacturer, contract testing facility, or research institution in violation of this section.

(e) For purposes of this section:

"Alternative method" means a test method or strategy that:

(1) Does not use animals, or uses fewer animals or causes less suffering to animals when there is no appropriate non-animal test method or strategy available; and

(2) Has been validated according to international validation principles or identified by validation bodies, and adopted by the relevant federal agency or program within an agency responsible for regulating the specific product or activity for which the test method or strategy is being conducted.

"Alternative method" includes but is not limited to computational toxicology and bioinformatics, high throughput screening methods, chemical substance category testing, tiered testing methods, in vitro studies, and systems biology, including new or revised methods.

"Animal" means a live vertebrate nonhuman animal.

"Animal test method" means a process or procedure using animals to obtain information on the characteristics of a chemical or agent, or the biological effect of exposure to a chemical or agent under specified conditions.

"Contract testing facility" means any partnership, corporation, association, or other legal relationship that tests chemicals, ingredients, product formulations, or products in this State.

"Manufacturer" means any partnership, corporation, association, or other legal relationship that produces chemicals, ingredients, product formulations, or products in this State.

"Medical research" means research related to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, control, or prevention of physical or mental diseases and impairments of humans and animals, or related to the development of biomedical products, devices, or drugs. "Medical research" shall not include the testing of an ingredient that was formerly used in a drug, was tested for drug use by humans under animal test methods aimed to characterize the ingredient and substantiate its safety, and is proposed for use in a product other than a biomedical product, device, or drug.

"Research facility" means a facility of an institution of higher education that receives public money, including tax exempt status; a facility that provides research in collaboration with an institution of higher education; or a facility that uses animal test methods for science, testing, education, or research purposes."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2113
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII