Brazilian supermodel Fernanda Tavares is fronting a campaign to expand a ban on animal testing for cosmetics in the rest of her native country following a landmark ruling in Sao Paulo in January (14).

The state of Sao Paulo became the first Latin American region to introduce a ban on animal testing for cosmetics, and Tavares is now hoping to extend the regulations to the rest of Brazil.

The catwalk star has been appointed an ambassador by the Human Society International (Hsi) to lead the organisation's Be Cruelty-Free Brazil campaign to halt cosmetic testing on rabbits, guinea pigs and other rodents throughout the country.

The model has starred in a campaign video and met with government officials in the hope of introducing a nationwide testing ban.

She says,"I'm really thrilled to become Hsi's Be Cruelty-Free Brazil Ambassador. I love my country very much, but cosmetics cruelty shames Brazil so I want to see an end to the suffering as soon as possible... There really is no excuse for animal testing when so many companies make amazing cosmetics without hurting any animals. So I want to do whatever I can to help Hsi achieve this goal."