OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 495 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 495’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Carruthers and Sweeney
Effective date:
Austin C. Strohacker, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Prohibits cosmetics manufacturers from selling cosmetics products developed using
animal testing, subject to certain exemptions.
 Prohibits local governments from enacting other cosmetic animal testing laws.
 Prescribes a penalty for violations of the bill’s prohibitions.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Prohibition
The bill prohibits cosmetics manufacturers from knowingly selling, offering for sale, or
delivering cosmetics products developed or manufactured using cosmetic animal testing
conducted or contracted for by the manufacturer or any of the manufacturer’s suppliers.1
As used in the bill, “cosmetic animal testing” means the internal or external application
or exposure of any cosmetic product or ingredient to the skin, eyes, or any other organ or
extremity of a live, nonhuman vertebrate for the purpose of evaluating the safety or efficacy of
a cosmetic product or ingredient or a nonfunctional constituent for use in a cosmetic product.
Cosmetic ingredients and nonfunctional constituents are defined by federal Food and Drug
Administration regulations.2
Under the bill, no county, township, or municipal corporation may adopt or enforce
prohibitions related to cosmetic animal testing that are not identical to those in the bill.3
1 R.C. 3715.522(A).
2 R.C. 3715.01(A)(7), (8), and (11); 21 Code of Federal Regulations 701.3, not in the bill.
3 R.C. 3715.522(C).
June 24, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
The bill requires the Director of Agriculture or their designee to impose a civil penalty of
up to $5,000 for each violation of the bill, with an additional penalty of $1,000 for each day the
violation continues. The money collected shall be deposited in the Cosmetic Animal Testing
Prevention Fund, created by the bill in the state treasury.4
Exemptions
The bill provides several exemptions to the cosmetic animal testing prohibition:
 Animal testing conducted outside of the U.S. in order to comply with foreign
regulations, provided no evidence from the testing was relied upon to prove the safety
of the product in Ohio;
 Animal testing subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act;
 Animal testing conducted for an ingredient intended to be used in products other than
cosmetics, provided that no evidence from the testing was relied upon to prove the
safety of the product in Ohio;
 The evidence from the testing may be relied upon to prove the safety of the product
if there is no nonanimal method to conduct the necessary testing, the animal testing
was conducted with the intent to use the ingredient in a noncosmetic product, and
the ingredient has been in use in a noncosmetic product for 12 months before the
cosmetic manufacturer or supplier relied on the results.
 Animal testing requested, required, or conducted by the Department of Agriculture, the
State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy, or a federal or state regulatory authority, if there is no
nonanimal method to conduct the necessary testing, the animal testing is justified
because the ingredient or nonfunctional constituent poses a specific and serious
adverse human health risk, and the ingredient is widely used and cannot be replaced by
another ingredient;
 A cosmetic or cosmetic ingredient tested on animals before the effective date of the bill,
even if the cosmetic or ingredient is manufactured after the effective date of the bill, as
long as no new animal testing in violation of the bill is conducted;
 A cosmetic manufacturer or supplier reviewing, assessing, or retaining evidence from
animal testing.5
4 R.C. 3715.99(F).
5 R.C. 3715.522(B).
P a g e |2 H.B. 495
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 04-16-24
ANHB0495IN-135/sb
P a g e |3 H.B. 495
As Introduced


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 3715.01, 3715.025, 3715.99, 3717.01