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I. Introduction
For many years, the EU's legislation on animal testing andmarketing bans regarding cosmetic products and their ingredients has been giving rise to controversy. First, the bans were introduced under the regime of the Cosmetics Directive1, which was subsequently replaced byRegulation (EC)No. 1223/2009 on cosmetic products (hereinafter "EU Cosmetics Regulation")2. In this process, the animal testing and marketing bans of Article 4a of the Cosmetics Directive were transferred - with identical content and largely with the same wording - to Article 18 of the EUCosmeticsRegulation, so that the legal issues connected with the bans have basically remained the same. Since the transitional periods for the application of the bans ended on 11March 2009 and 11March 2013 (for details, see Article 18(2) of EU Cosmetics Regulation), and the bans as provided byArticle 18(1) of the EU Cosmetics Regulation are binding and directly applicable in the EU Member States3, they must be observed by the affected businesses as of now. Violations are to be sanctioned in the Member States in an effective, proportionate and dissuasive manner (Article 37 of EU Cosmetics Regulation).
Of great importance in this context is the Communication of the European Commission on the animal testing and marketing ban and on the state of play in relation to alternative methods in the field of cosmetics of 11 March 20134 which describes, inter alia, the legal framework and the content of the bans. Yet, the Commission Communication could not clarify the legal issues regarding the application of the bans, especially in respect of the wording "to meet the requirements of this Regulation". In order for the ban to take effect, all four paragraphs of Article 18(1) - i.e. the marketing bans in a) and b) and the animal testing bans in c) and d) - demand that animal tests were performed "tomeet the requirements of this Regulation".
This element causes particular difficulties in the application of the testing andmarketing bans. In the past, this was reflected especially in the lengthy discussion on the relation to the REACH Regulation, if REACH prescribes the performance of animal tests. Currently, in a preliminary ruling procedure (C-592/14) submitted on 19 December 2014 by the High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) the Court...