What is a fixed cut-off date?
This means that a product manufacturer will not buy finished products or ingredients (from suppliers) that have been animal tested after a fixed date eg: 1987. This rule draws a clear line under animal testing, and is the only method by which manufacturers can send a clear message to their suppliers and the rest of the industry that the company is not prepared to profit from laboratory animal suffering. If a company does not use a fixed cut-off date for the ingredients it buys (even if it claims not to test on animals itself), it still profits from animal suffering because it is continuing to buy ingredients that have been animal tested and it helps to perpetuate the market for animal tested ingredients.