ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Beiersdorf, the organisation behind the NIVEA brand, does not test on animals. As a global company, all our affiliates including Australia and New Zealand, are aligned on this stance. We believe animal testing is not required to prove the safety and effectiveness of our products.

The manufacturers of NIVEA products, Beiersdorf Germany, does not test on animals. Animal testing has been completely banned for all cosmetic products in the EU since 2004, and for all the ingredients of these products since 2013. Beiersdorf, the organisation behind the NIVEA brand, complies with this law and has long done without animal testing whenever it was possible.

Animal testing refers to experimentation carried out on animals to assess the safety and effectiveness and compatibility of a product. In relation to the development of cosmetics , this may involve testing either a finished product or the individual ingredients of a finished product on animals, often rabbits, but also mice, rats, and other animals. The manufacturers of NIVEA, Beiersdorf Germany, and NIVEA Australia do not test on animals.

Beiersdorf is actively working on the development and recognition of alternative methods to animal testing. For more than 20 years we have engaged with expert panels and associations on in-vitro procedures and are one of the leading and most well-known and accepted research companies in the world.

We are working together with external partners such as the European cosmetics association, Cosmetics Europe, and the EPAA (European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing), toward the development and recognition of alternative testing methods that will replace animal testing. 

We are also actively advocating for the worldwide acceptance of existing animal test-free alternative methods by respective authorities. Further, we support both in terms of personnel and financially, the scientific efforts to fill the gaps where alternative methods are not yet available. 

Further information can be found on the Beiersdorf website

Beiersdorf, the organisation behind the NIVEA brand, shares your concern about palm oil. We are aware of our responsibilities towards the environment and society, and would like you to know that we do not use palm oil directly in our NIVEA products. 

Some of the ingredients used in our products are surfactants and emulsifiers that do contain oils from various vegetable sources, including palm, coconut, avocado and canola. 

Beiersdorf does not directly purchase palm oil for the manufacture of cosmetics and produces no reprocessed palm oil or palm kernel oil-based materials. But as it is customary in the cosmetics industry, we use essential auxiliary materials such as emulsifiers and surfactants (fatty alcohols, fatty acids and glycerides) in a series of products. These materials are typically produced from mineral and plant oils; plant sources include coconut oil, rapeseed oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. 

As a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Beiersdorf supports the extraction of sustainable farming methods of palm oil. In both cooperation and disputes with our suppliers, we are trying to ensure that in the future only sustainably produced, certified palm oil/palm kernel oil is used in the manufacture of our ingredients. Until such time as our suppliers are able to acquire only sustainable palm oil/palm kernel oil, we purchase palm oil/palm kernel oil certificates (Book & Claim). For this purpose, we have assembled a team whose task it is to develop a process for achieving this objective and to guarantee its implementation. 

Producers that manage their oil plantations sustainably and are eco-friendly are given certifications by organisations such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Further information can be found on the Beiersdorf website.