Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about the fur trade and the import of fur.
I am committed to upholding this country’s high standards in animal welfare. The previous Conservative Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare sets out our party's vision to introduce a range of world-leading reforms to improve the welfare and conservation of animals at home and abroad, you can read more about it here - Action Plan for Animal Welfare (publishing.service.gov.uk)
I appreciate that there is considerable support for banning all imports of fur products. Fur farming has been banned in the UK for 20 years and legislation prohibits the keeping and breeding of animals solely or primarily for slaughter for the value of their fur. There are also strict restrictions on some skin and fur products that may never be legally imported into the UK. Those include fur and fur products from cats and dogs, whose import, export and placing on the market is prohibited.
Fur farming has been banned in the UK for 20 years. As well as this, there are already restrictions on some skin and fur products which may never be legally imported into the UK such as seal, cat and dog fur. The UK has established controls on fur from endangered species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and does not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards.
In 2021, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published a call for evidence on the fur trade in Great Britain, which asked for views on animal welfare and on the social and economic impacts associated with the trade. Around 30,000 responses were received from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. Although the call for evidence has now closed, the details are available here: The Fur Market in Great Britain - Defra - Citizen Space
I know that officials from Defra have been analysing the responses received and have also engaged directly with stakeholders. I look forward to the new Government publishing more information about this in due course. In addition, Defra continues to build its evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade.
Finally, the Animal Welfare Committee has been considering the issue of responsible sourcing in the fur industry, including the animal welfare standards and safeguards that apply to fur imported into this country. I will continue to follow this issue closely.
Thank you once again for taking the time to get in contact with me.
Sincerely,
