New Delhi/Mumbai, Oct 4 (IANS): Just in time for the World Animal Day on Monday, Lakme has agreed to join PETA US' 'Global Beauty Without Bunnies' programme, which certifies cosmetics, personal-care, and household goods companies and brands that don't test on animals.

"Lakme, which is owned by Hindustan Unilever, will now feature the programme's PETA-approved bunny logo on its packaging," PETA India said in a release here.

"Not testing any of our products on animals is critical to our values at Lakme and is in line with Unilever's Positive Beauty vision," said head of innovations at Lakme, Sumati Matti.

In India, testing cosmetics or their ingredients on animals was banned in 2014, as was the importation of animal-tested cosmetics. In 2020, the government released the Cosmetics Rules 2020, which include provisions to strengthen the ban on the importation of animal-tested cosmetics.

PETA India advised consumers to purchase only from companies listed as not testing on animals by PETA US' Global Beauty Without Bunnies programme.

"PETA's 'Beauty Without Bunnies' programme is recognised worldwide for its high-quality standards and rigour, and we are proud to be a brand that is officially PETA-approved. With Lakme's range of high-performance and world-class cosmetics, skin-care products, and beauty salons, women can own their look while knowing that the beauty and safety from our products are from scientific alternatives to animal testing," Matti said.

"Thanks to Lakme's compassion and conscientiousness, animals will be spared the ugly tests for beauty products," said PETA India science policy advisor, Ankita Pandey.

PETA India - whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to experiment on" - notes that more than 5,400 companies around the world have banned all animal tests in favour of effective, modern, non-animal methods, thereby sparing animals painful and deadly tests.