Posted: Jan. 7, 2009, 3 a.m. EST
Products using the fur from cats and dogs can no longer be imported, exported or sold anywhere within the European Union, as the EU ban of such activity became effective on Dec. 31. The ban came after the government of the United Kingdom expressed concerns about reports of fur farming in countries in the Far East.
The U.K. banned commercial fur farming in 2001, and condemned the practice of raising cats and dogs to harvest the animals’ fur. EC Regulation 1523/2007 gave European Union member states until the December deadline to provide an effective, persuasive and proportionate penalty for breaching the ban on the commercial import, export and sale of cat and dog fur.
“This ban will give U.K. consumers confidence that whether shopping here or within the EU, they will not be sold products containing cat or dog fur,” said U.K. Trade Minister Gareth Thomas. “This is an abhorrent trade which has no place in our markets.”