Law 2047 was promulgated on 10 August 2020 with a four-year vacatio legis. On 10 August 2024, the law’s main prohibitions entered into force, making it illegal to conduct cosmetic-related animal testing in Colombia or to import, export, manufacture, or commercialise cosmetic products or ingredients that were tested on animals after that date, subject to the two specified exceptions. INVIMA holds sanctioning authority for violations, with fines of up to 50,000 monthly minimum wages. The law created a positive obligation for the State to promote and fund alternative test methods, including through financial and tax incentives. Following the prohibitions’ entry into force, MinCIT and MinTIC led coordinated government enforcement and awareness campaigns publicising the ban and informing the cosmetics supply chain of compliance requirements. Resolution 814 of 2026 established that manufacturers and importers must file a first-party declaration of conformity with INVIMA as a condition for obtaining mandatory health notification, with verification and market controls enabling enforcement against non-compliant products. No court decisions suspending or annulling Law 2047 have been identified in sources consulted through 2026.

Anticipated Effects

If implemented as written and enforced by INVIMA, the prohibition would restrict manufacturers and importers from relying on newly generated animal test data for cosmetics sold in Colombia, except where no validated alternative exists or where animal tests were conducted for non-cosmetic regulatory purposes.

If the State implements the mandated promotion of alternative test methods through financial and tax incentives, research and testing practices in the Colombian cosmetics sector would be expected to shift toward non-animal approaches over time, reducing reliance on animal testing within the sector.

Whether the prohibition reduces the absolute number of animals used in cosmetic testing globally, or primarily redirects testing activities to jurisdictions without equivalent bans, depends on supply chain responses that are not documented in available sources.

Significance Rationale

Assigned Reduces Exploitation (impact direction) because Law 2047 prohibits the conduct of animal testing for cosmetic purposes in Colombia and restricts market access for cosmetic products and ingredients tested on animals after the law’s entry into force — except where no validated alternative methods exist or where animal data were generated for non-cosmetic purposes. If implemented and enforced, the law decreases animal use in cosmetic testing connected to the Colombian market.

Assigned Alters Legal Basis (impact type) because the primary mechanism is the creation of statutory prohibitions governing cosmetic-related animal experimentation and associated market access restrictions, establishing a legal basis for prohibition where none previously existed in Colombian law for this specific sector.

Assigned Moderate significance because the law targets a defined sector — cosmetics and cosmetic ingredients — within the broader Research & Testing system. It does not regulate animal use in pharmaceuticals, food production, or other major testing sectors. The Colombian cosmetics market is significant regionally, but the direct effect on animal numbers is not quantified in available sources.

The duration and persistence of the scale change in animal use for cosmetic testing connected to the Colombian market is not established in available sources; no quantified data on animal numbers used in cosmetic testing before or after the law’s operative date have been identified in sources consulted.