Government backtracks and says it has “no plans” to ban fur imports

Despite support from nearly 8 in 10 Brits for a fur free Britain, Humane Society International UK says the Government “simply isn’t listening” to public consensus to ban fur.

Today, the British government has issued a statement saying it has "no plans" to ban fur imports, despite strong public backing for a ban on fur import and sales.

In a formal response to a petition, the released a statement saying: "Current Government policy is to retain existing fur measures. While Defra published a formal call for evidence on the fur trade in Great Britain in 2021, we have no plans currently to make further changes."

The Government launched a 'Call for Evidence' on the UK fur trade in May 2021, with the intention of using the findings to inform possible future action. The fur e-petition garnered over 30,000 responses, with officials still yet to publish the findings.

Although fur farming has been banned across the UK on ethical grounds since 2003, the country continues to import and sell fur from overseas including China and Finland. HMRC records show that in 2020 alone, the UK imported £33,987,750 worth of fur.

Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) Minister Trudy Harrison, said that the government has committed to explore potential action in relation to animal fur and continues to build on its evidence base on the fur sector, which "will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade."

Humane Society International/UK’s Senior Director of Campaigns and Public Affairs, Claire Bass, responded: "Over three quarters of the British public back a ban on imports of cruel and dangerous fur but the Government simply isn’t listening. Instead, it appears happy to remain complicit in a global trade that causes suffering to millions of animals, who are kept in factory farm conditions that are breeding grounds for disease, and could very well be implicated in the next global pandemic.

"This is a betrayal of both animals and also voters, and a sign of a Government that underestimates how much Brits won’t take no for an answer when it comes to fighting cruelty to animals."