For example, if the European Union (EU) wants to ban imports of cosmetics that were tested on laboratory animals on grounds that such testing is unethical, it can file a complaint with the World Trade Organization and, in theory, the WTO would allow the EU to enact trade barriers provided that the EU bans its own domestic cosmetic producers from testing on laboratory animals. In these cases, however, the World Trade Organization has consistently ruled that such barriers are illegal because only the process is different, while the final product itself is not.[1] Therefore, the WTO has made the product/process distinction an important factor in determining whether trade barriers are justified.[2]