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Written Question
Furs: Imports
Wednesday 29th June 2022

Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the value of imported products made from rabbit fur to the UK economy, and (2) the cost of a ban on the importation of such products would have on the UK economy.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data for 2019 indicates approximate values of £52,911,000 gross imports to the UK for raw furskins, tanned or dressed furskins, and articles of apparel, clothing accessories and other furskin articles. HMRC does not collect data on specific fur-bearing species.

Under existing domestic legislation it is an offence to keep animals solely or primarily for slaughter for the value of their fur. However, we do permit the import and sale of such products. The Government is committed to exploring potential action in this area in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. If any action were to be taken on fur, a full assessment of the impact on UK businesses would be conducted.


Written Question
Furs and Pâté de Foie Gras: Imports
Wednesday 2nd March 2022

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to ban the import of (a) fur and (b) foie gras.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Now we have left the EU, the Government is able to explore potential action in relation to animal fur. We are reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses will be published soon.

The Government has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns. We do not allow its production in the UK. We are now able to consider any further steps that could be taken in relation to foie gras that is produced overseas using force feeding practices, such as restrictions on import and sale. We are gathering information and will continue to speak to a range of interested parties about the issues involved. This is in line with the Government's commitment to improving animal welfare standards as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare.


Written Question
Furs and Pâté de Foie Gras: Imports
Wednesday 2nd March 2022

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had any discussions with the Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency on proposals to ban the import of (a) fur and (b) foie gras.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Now we have left the EU, the Government is able to explore potential action in relation to animal fur. We are reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses will be published soon.

The Government has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns. We do not allow its production in the UK. We are now able to consider any further steps that could be taken in relation to foie gras that is produced overseas using force feeding practices, such as restrictions on import and sale. We are gathering information and will continue to speak to a range of interested parties about the issues involved. This is in line with the Government's commitment to improving animal welfare standards as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare.


Written Question
Furs and Pâté de Foie Gras: Imports and Sales
Wednesday 2nd March 2022

Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the (a) import and (b) sale of (i) real fur and (ii) foie gras as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Now we have left the EU, the Government is able to explore potential action in relation to animal fur. We are reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses will be published soon.

The Government has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns. We do not allow its production in the UK. We are now able to consider any further steps that could be taken in relation to foie gras that is produced overseas using force feeding practices, such as restrictions on import and sale. We are gathering information and will continue to speak to a range of interested parties about the issues involved. This is in line with the Government's commitment to improving animal welfare standards as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare.


Written Question
Furs: Imports and Sales
Tuesday 1st March 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) publish the Government's response to the recent consultation on the fur market in the UK and (b) bring forward legislative proposals to ban the import and sale of fur in the UK.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Fur farming has been banned in the UK for over 20 years. Now we have left the EU, the Government is able to explore potential further action in relation to animal fur.

The recent call for evidence published by Defra on the fur trade in Great Britain was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to better understand the fur sector in Great Britain and gather evidence from those with an interest in it.

We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. We are reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses setting out the results and key findings will be published soon.


Written Question
Furs
Monday 6th September 2021

Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to ban the sale and import of fur in the UK.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

On 31 May, Defra published a formal call for evidence on the fur trade in Great Britain (GB). This was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to better understand the fur sector in GB and gather evidence from those with an interest in it. We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area.

We will use the evidence gathered to inform any future action on the fur trade in GB, in line with the Government’s commitment to improving animal welfare standards. A summary of responses setting out the results and any next steps in this policy space will be published in due course.


Written Question
Fur: Sales
Thursday 8th October 2020

Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to legislate for a ban on the sale of fur after the end of the transition period with the EU on 1 January 2021.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The Government shares the British public’s high regard for animal welfare. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products which may never be legally imported into the UK. These include fur from cats and dogs and seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000 (2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland).

In addition, we do not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards. Where fur is from an endangered species protected through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), its import or trade will be subject to CITES controls.

During the transition period it is not possible to introduce restrictions relating to the fur trade. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established there will be an opportunity for the Government to consider further the steps it could take in relation to fur sales.


Written Question
Furs: Sales
Thursday 1st October 2020

Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they plan to take to ban the sale of fur products in England.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The Government shares the British public’s high regard for animal welfare. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products which may never be legally imported into the UK. These include fur from cats and dogs and seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000 (2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland).

In addition, we do not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards. Where fur is from an endangered species protected through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), its import or trade will be subject to CITES controls.

During the transition period it is not possible to introduce restrictions relating to the fur trade. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established there will be an opportunity for the Government to consider further steps it could take in relation to fur sales.


Written Question
Furs: Sales
Tuesday 30th June 2020

Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will conduct a public consultation on the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the commercial sale of fur in the UK after the end of the transition period.

Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General

The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products, which cannot be legally imported into the UK. These include fur from cats and dogs, seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Legislation has prohibited farming of animals for their fur since 2000 in England and Wales, and 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In addition, we do not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards. Where fur is from an endangered species protected through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), its import or trade will be subject to CITES controls.

During the transition period it is not possible to introduce restrictions relating to the fur trade. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established, we will have the opportunity to consider further steps we could take in relation to fur sales.