EU: MEPs call for a complete ban on the cat and dog fur trade in the EU

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MEPs call for a complete ban on the cat and dog fur trade in the EU

Consumers - 19-06-2007 - 13:08

 

 

The European Parliament adopted a report on a proposed EU-wide ban on trading in

cat and dog fur. The first-reading scraps an exemption allowing trade in fur

from cats and dogs if they were " not bred or killed for fur production " . MEPs

fear this would leave a " gaping loophole " in the legislation, which traders

would quickly exploit.

 

 

In December 2003, Parliament adopted a declaration calling on the European

Commission to draft a regulation banning the import, export, sale and production

of cat and dog fur and skins. Three years later – after a public outcry over

evidence that cat and dog fur products were still entering the EU, despite a

voluntary code of conduct adopted by European fur traders – Parliament got its

wish.

 

“The placing on the market and the import to or export from the Community of fur

of cats and dogs and products containing such fur shall be prohibited”,

stipulates Article 1 of the draft regulation proposed by the Commission. The

committee backed this element of the legislation by a large majority.

 

However, they did not back a derogation proposed by the Commission to the ban,

which would open up the possibility for cat and dog fur to be placed on the EU

market provided that the fur (or products containing it) were (a) “labelled as

originating from cats or dogs that have not been bred or killed for fur

production”, or (b) constituted “personal or household effects” introduced into,

or exported from, the Community.

 

Rapporteur Eva-Britt SVENSSON (GUE/NGL, SE) was adamant about doing away with

the derogation, saying that it “would provide a gaping loophole, which would be

ruthlessly exploited by traders of all future consignments of cat and dog fur,

thus rendering the entire regulation useless”. Fellow MEPs agreed, voting to

delete the relevant article, and committee chair Arlene McCARTHY (PES, UK)

echoed their views, saying “We want a ban, not a restriction”.

 

In the course of negotiations with the Council, MEPs did agree, however, that,

" by way of exceptional derogation " , the Commission may adopt provisions allowing

cat and dog fur on the EU market " for educational or taxidermy purposes. "

 

By entering into negotiations with the Council Presidency ahead of the plenary

vote, MEPs have secured a first-reading agreement on the ban. This means,

effectively, that the Council is expected to back the Parliament's report (i.e.

its amendments) and to adopt the legislation without any further changes. The

ban will apply from 31 December 2008.

 

NGOs working in this sector estimate that around two million dogs and cats a

year die in this trade in China alone, simply to supply the European market.

 

British speakers in the debate on Monday, 18 June 2007

 

Caroline LUCAS (Greens/EFA), draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on

International Trade warmly welcomed Mrs Svensson's report and congratulated her

on her excellent work. It is very clear, Ms Lucas stated, that Parliament is

united in saying that there should be no derogations that would compromise the

integrity and the effectiveness of a ban.

 

However, continuing she stated that in terms of this legislation being

forthcoming from the Commission, we have had to wait quite a long time. She

recalled her writing to Commissioner Byrne back in 2002 calling for a ban on cat

and dog fur. We were, she said, told simply that it was a very complex issue and

the Commission was reflecting.

 

" What worries me about that is that in a sense this slowness is being repeated

on another issue that I want to turn your minds to, which is the issue of

banning imports of seal products. Again, Parliament is being told that it is a

complex issue. Exactly the same language is being used again now, when it comes

to seal products, as was used back in 2002 about cat and dog fur.

 

As the draftsperson in the Committee on International Trade, I tabled amendments

to the cat and dog proposal, not suggesting that we try to include seals – that

would be too much – but at least asking the Commission to bring forward similar

legislation to deal with imports of seal products. This was agreed by the

Committee on International Trade.

 

The Commissioner said earlier that there was no lack of political will when it

came to dealing with the cat and dog issue, what was lacking was an imaginative

legal base. I urge the Commissioner and his services to be extraordinary

imaginative and to recognise that Europe’s citizens feel the same revulsion

about cat and dog fur as they feel about imports of seal products. We must have

legislation coming forward very urgently on that issue as well. "

 

Struan STEVENSON (EPP-ED), draftsman of the opinion of the Committee on

Agriculture and Rural Development. – expressed his very warm thanks to Mrs

Svensson for a brilliant piece of work and a brilliant report. He also wished to

thank Mrs McCarthy for her dedication and commitment to steering this very

important report through Parliament. However, most of all, he expressed his

gratitude for the great courage of Commissioner Kyprianou, because, as Mrs Lucas

has just said, the previous Commissioner told us that it was impossible and

there would never be a legal basis. I remember Commissioner Kyprianou saying to

me, ‘As a lawyer, if I went round telling clients that things were impossible, I

would never make a living!’. He has fulfilled his pledge.

 

" It is music to my ears to hear this debate this evening, because it has taken

eight years to get this far, with the help of Humane Society International.

Betsy Dribben, who used to work for Humane Society International, has flown over

from Washington and is in the public gallery tonight, and many thanks are due to

her for her dogged campaigning.

 

Humane Society International estimates that, every year, about two million cats

and dogs are killed in China alone to supply the fashion market in Europe with

items like this little toy, which the rapporteur mentioned – little cats, which

mums and dads buy for their kids because they are cat and dog lovers, not

realising that they have been made out of real cat and dog skin from animals

that have been brutally killed. The trade buys these cat skins to make collars

for trim for parka hoods and ski boot and ski glove linings and all sorts of

fashion items.

 

This has been a perpetrated fraud on the public. The public are never told that

they are buying real items of cat and dog fur. Sometimes it is even dyed to look

like fake fur and given false labels to fool the public. I am glad that, at long

last, there will very soon be a law on the statute books – a regulation – in all

27 Member States banning this evil trade. I thank the Commissioner and everyone

else who has been involved in achieving that. "

 

Arlene McCARTHY (PES), chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and

Consumer Protection (IMCO), reminded the House that the late Philip Whitehead,

former chairman of the IMCO Committee, asked the Commission to take action and

on 30 December last year " I received on behalf of concerned citizens a petition

signed by over a quarter of a million people calling for us to bring in that

ban. We have acted but I believe that it is citizens' determination and animal

welfare campaigners who should take the credit for this new law and for helping

us to persuade the Commission to give us the legal power to ban it. There is

plenty of evidence of the inhuman treatment of cats and dogs bred for fur.

Animal welfare organisations have been contacting my office and welcoming the

law. Their only criticism is that it has taken us too long. But this law is also

about protecting consumers who have unwittingly been deceived into buying

clothes, toys, household products, made from cat and dog fur. I would say that

people power can win the day over bureaucracy and over legal barriers.

 

I want to stress to the Commission and to the Member States that the committee's

negotiating team wanted the EU to adopt the highest international standards and

best practices in ensuring we ban this obscene trade and that cat and dog

products do not end up in the shops by the back door. "

 

Concluding Ms McCarthy insisted on a report back on how the ban is being

implemented and action if it is not working. " We expect Member States to take

their responsibilities seriously in both implementing and enforcing the ban.

There must be tough and dissuasive penalties to deter the cat and dog fur

traders. In short, a ban must mean a ban in principle and in practice. Not a

restriction enabling continuation of the trade by the back door. "

 

Catherine STIHLER (PES) stated that one million Europeans have lobbied in favour

of banning the import of cat and dog fur into the EU. The Commission, she said,

had listened to the European Parliament and reacted by taking legislative action

to ban the import of cat and dog fur. She welcomed this and hoped that we will

see an end to the barbaric trade which accounts for the slaughter of over two

million cats and dogs each year. However, warm words are not enough, she said.

Some constituents have raised concerns that loopholes in the Commission's

proposal may allow imports via the back door. Ms Stihler recently tabled a

written question asking the Commission about derogations that might allow the

trade to continue. The reply that she received gave information on two

derogations, one relating to fur that was part of personal or household effects

being brought into the EU, and the other relating to fur or products containing

fur that have not been bred or killed for fur production.

 

Ms Stihler welcomed the fact that the European Parliament's report deletes these

derogations and she urged colleagues to fully support this report. " We want to

be sure that cat and dog fur will not be imported into the EU. "

 

Elizabeth LYNNE (ALDE) welcomed the fact that several EU countries – France,

Italy, Denmark, Greece and Belgium – moved unilaterally to ban the trade.

However, she said, there are differences in the approaches of other Member

States, ranging from bans on rearing and slaughter to labelling requirements.

These differences can cause problems for consumers, retailers and traders alike.

That is why, as we all know, an EU-wide ban is so important if we want an end to

this vile trade.

 

" We have already heard that 2 million dogs and cats are slaughtered each year

for their fur and that it takes at least 10 dogs and up to 24 cats to make a

single coat. These animals live in horrific conditions and many are skinned

alive. Since the US brought in a ban, more cat and dog fur is coming into the

EU. The problem is that many customers do not know what they are buying, as cat

and dog fur is quite often labelled as fake fur. It is also included in a

variety of products other than clothing, such as some homeopathic medicines,

children's toys and accessories. "

 

Concluding Ms Lynne welcomed the debate and vote to follow and congratulated the

Commissioner on his commitment.

 

 

Contact:

 

Piotr ZALEWSKI

: piotr.zalewski

: (32-2) 28 32232 (BXL)

 

Richard FREEDMAN

: press-EN

: (32-2) 28 41448 (BXL)

: (33-3) 881 73785 (STR)

: (+32) 498 98 32 39