Leaping Bunny certification, cruelty-free and vegan claims for small makers

What Leaping Bunny certification is and what it costs

Leaping Bunny is a cruelty-free certification for own-label cosmetic and household products. The program has run since 1996 and is operated by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics in the US and Canada. On the day we checked, its site listed 2348 certified brands.

Leaping Bunny certifies the whole brand or company, not single products. A soap maker cannot certify one bar and leave the rest of the range out. The household products the standard names are laundry and dish detergent, bleach, cleaners, floor wax, furniture polish and air fresheners; a candle maker should ask the program whether a candle line falls inside that scope before applying.

There is no cost to apply or to be certified. The only charge is optional: if you want the bunny logo on packaging, your website or social posts, the licence is a one-time fee of $500 to $4,500, based on gross annual sales. companies in the US and Canada, after certification by CCIC.

What does cruelty-free mean under US law

The FDA says the unrestricted use of cruelty-free and not-tested-on-animals claims is possible because there are no legal definitions for these terms. It also notes that companies may rely on raw material suppliers or contract laboratories to perform any animal testing, while the finished product carries a cruelty-free claim.

That gap is why the certification schemes exist. Each one writes its own definition: whose testing counts (yours, your manufacturer's, your ingredient suppliers'), from what date, and whether animal-derived ingredients are allowed. When a shopper sees a logo, the logo tells them which definition you met.

The FTC pages we read do not define cruelty-free or vegan either, but its truth-in-advertising rules apply to every ad claim. Treat a cruelty-free or vegan claim on a label, a product page or an ad as a factual claim about the product that needs proof like any other.

What the FTC expects behind a cruelty-free or vegan claim

The FTC's small business advertising guide states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, and advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims. It adds that the law requires that advertisers have proof before the ad runs. Its Policy Statement Regarding Advertising Substantiation sets the same baseline: advertisers need a reasonable basis for advertising claims before they are disseminated.

When a claim does not say how it is supported, the FTC expects a reasonable basis, which its guide defines as objective evidence that supports the claim. The FTC also looks past the literal words: advertisers need proof to back up express and implied claims that consumers take from an ad. A bunny drawing, a green leaf and the word kind on a soap label can together imply a cruelty-free claim even if the words never appear.

For a small maker, proof usually means paper you can produce on request. These are the records that match each claim.

• Not tested on animals: a written statement from each ingredient supplier and contract manufacturer that they do not test the ingredient or product on animals, with the date it covers.
• Cruelty-free: the same supplier statements, plus your own definition of the claim (which testing, from what date) written down and applied to the whole range.
• Vegan: an ingredient list for every product with each ingredient's source, including processing aids, waxes, colours and fragrance components, and supplier confirmation that none is animal-derived.
• Certified: a current certificate or listing from the scheme, kept with the renewal date. A lapsed certificate means the logo comes off.

Example: a maker sells a lavender soap and a beeswax candle. The soap can be called vegan if every ingredient is plant- or mineral-based. The candle cannot, because beeswax is an animal product, even though no animal testing was involved. A cruelty-free claim could cover both if the supplier statements support it.

Cruelty-free certification and vegan certification schemes compared

This page covers four schemes. Two are about animal testing and two are about vegan products. The table lists what each scheme owner publishes about its rules and its fees. Nation does not recommend one over another; the right one depends on what you sell and what your buyers look for.

PETA cruelty-free certification

PETA runs its cruelty-free list through the Beauty Without Bunnies program. To be listed, companies must commit never to conduct, commission, pay for, or allow tests on animals at any phase of development, for both ingredients and final products, and they need agreements with suppliers guaranteeing they will never test the ingredients on animals.

Listing is free to be registered. Once approved, a company may use the Animal Test–Free and Animal Test–Free and Vegan logos for a one-time $350 licensing fee. The vegan listing is for companies whose entire product line is free of animal-derived ingredients, so a maker with one beeswax or lanolin product would qualify only for the animal test-free logo.

Vegan certification and the vegan certified logo

Vegan Action runs the Certified Vegan logo, which marks products that do not contain animal products or byproducts and that have not been tested on animals. Its standard also requires no animal testing of ingredients or finished products by the manufacturer after the year 2009, and it covers food and beverages, clothing and accessories, vitamins and supplements, cosmetics and personal care, and textiles and household products. The logo is permitted on products from companies located in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and US territories.

Applying costs $100, non-refundable, credited to the first annual licensing fee if approved. After approval the company pays an annual licensing fee per company, not per product, based on the company’s annual revenue from the previous fiscal year. Vegan Action says applications are reviewed in 3-4 weeks. If you use shared machinery, you need approved steps to clean and sanitize surfaces and machinery between vegan and non-vegan production cycles.

The Vegan Society's Vegan Trademark is the other common vegan logo. The society has been certifying products since 1990 and lists over 70,000 certified products worldwide. Its standard requires that a product and its ingredients must not involve the use of any animal product, by-product or derivative, and that they no testing of any sort on animals by or on behalf of the company. The trademark is renewed on a yearly basis. The trademark pages we read did not publish a fee, so ask the society for a quote before you plan packaging around it.

How to make a cruelty-free or vegan claim you can back up

These steps work whether or not you apply for a logo. The records you gather are the same ones every scheme asks for.

1. Decide which claim you are making

   Cruelty-free, not tested on animals and vegan are three different claims. Write down what each word means for your range, including whose testing counts and from what date.

2. List every ingredient and supplier

   Include fragrance oils, colours, waxes and processing aids. A contract manufacturer counts as a supplier, and so does the company that blends your fragrance.

3. Collect written supplier statements

   Ask each supplier to confirm in writing that it does not test the ingredient on animals and, for vegan claims, that the ingredient is not animal-derived. Keep the dated copies.

4. Pick a scheme, if you want a logo

   Leaping Bunny and PETA cover animal testing; Certified Vegan and the Vegan Trademark cover vegan products. Read the scheme's own standard and fee page before you apply.

5. Match every label and listing to the proof

   Remove any claim you cannot document, and remove a logo when its certification lapses. Re-check supplier statements whenever you change a supplier or a formula.

Where Nation fits

Questions about cruelty-free and vegan certification