European Wild Fur Ban Delayed

Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 22 -- The European Commission's proposal of a delay in the implementation of the European Union's ban on most North American wild furs was welcomed by the fur trade last week. One representative of the trapping community called it "the best news we've had on this issue" because a one-year extension will almost certainly be granted. One year, however, is not a great deal of time for the trapping communities in North America and Russia to meet the terms of the EU legislation.

Regulation 3254/91 was scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 1996, preventing European Union countries from importing pelts or garments made from 13 species of wild furs, unless their countries of origin had either outlawed the leghold trap or implemented internationally accepted humane trap standards. Such standards have not yet been developed, however, and even when they are, they could take a great deal of time to be implemented. This is especially the case in the United States, where wildlife management is governed at the state level, which means that all 50 states would probably have to implement the standards before US wild furs could be exported to the EU.

Currently EU countries together represent the largest consumers of North American wild furs. This delay comes just as the new wild fur auction season begins, as European buyers wondered if they would be able to obtain wild furs, and auction houses wondered if they'd have buyers.

Even though last week's European Commission decision amounted to a proposal to delay the legislation's implementation, and such a proposal must be approved by the Council of Ministers, this approval was viewed to be imminent. The proposal in itself had been considered a major hurdle in the international trade's work to permanently prevent an EU fur ban.

"This represents a major setback to the animal rights contingent in Europe that pushed for this legislation's implementation," said Carol Wynne of the Fur Information Council of America (FICA) and Scott Hartman of the National Trappers Association (NTA). Both U.S. organizations have been instrumental in the international trade's work.

A key factor influencing the Commission's decision was a recent joint North American trade delegation tour of six European countries, presenting educational materials, including science-based information that animal rights sources are misleading. The delegation found major misunderstandings among European officials about trapping and North American wildlife management practices. Some people even believed that, of the 13 species to be banned, a few were endangered, which is not true.

"We do feel that when the facts are presented, people understand. But this is just the first step in a process that wildlife management agencies and the trade must continue to educate people about trapping," said Wynne and Hartman. "We are going to need a serious commitment from the entire trade."

The Fur Council of Canada hailed the EU decision as a "victory for justice and common sense," saying that, "By proposing a delay in the implementation of Regulation 3254/91 the Commission has recognized the importance of the quadrilateral talks currently taking place between the U.S., Canada, Russia and the EU to find internationally acceptable trap standards," said Del Haylock, executive vice president.

"Many Canadian wildlife experts, aboriginal leaders and government officials have made a tremendous effort over the past few months to show the Europeans that the fur trade in Canada is an extremely well-managed and responsible industry. It was very difficult because the EU officials knew so little about conditions in Canada, but our message finally got through," said Tom Nacos, president of the Fur Council.

"We have argued that international standards are needed to assure that the best possible methods are used for all trapping, including wildlife management, and pest, predator or disease control measures, which are used extensively in Europe. The decision to delay implementation of EU Regulation 3254/91 for another year shows that the Commission now recognizes the need to allow time for such standards to be developed," Nacos continued.

Council vice president, Harry Papadopoulos, said, "This is a major defeat for animal rights extremists, who have systematically misled the European public and their governments about the important environmental, economic and social contributions of the fur trade. International consumer demand for fur is growing strongly, and animal activist efforts to impose their personal beliefs on others through arbitrary legislation has been rejected, despite the millions of dollars they used to mislead and pressure the Europeans."

Haylock continued, "Trapping is undertaken for many different reasons worldwide -- for wildlife management, habitat protection, for pest control, food and fur. In fact, only a small percentage of trapping is actually undertaken for fur. If animal welfare is to be improved, it is important that international standards should be agreed upon and then applied to the international community evenly and fairly. Without such standards, it is impossible to assess the claims made about various trapping systems in an objective manner. A realistic time-table for change will ensure that countries are not penalized whilst making every effort to implement the new standards."

Trade officials estimate that about 75% of North American wild fur pelts end up (either sold as pelts or garments) in the EU.