To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's response to e-petition 200888, whether he plans to extend the existing fur trade restrictions to cover products derived from all commercially farmed and trapped fur-bearing species.
Answered on
16 January 2018
The Government shares the British public’s high regards for animal welfare and after we leave the EU the Government plans to retain the current regulations banning the import of cat and dog fur and products, and the regulations concerning seal skins and products.
The Government believes that the best way of phasing out cruel and inhumane farming and trapping practices in other parts of the world which are banned here is to press for higher animal welfare standards worldwide.
The Government is not proposing a wider unilateral national ban on the import or sale of fur. This might have a limited impact worldwide and we should also be mindful of the need to comply with obligations under both EU and international trade rules.