EU Lifts Sanctions on Russian Sable Fur Imports Unanimously
The European Union has lifted its sanctions on Russian sable fur imports, with all 27 member states supporting the decision unanimously. The measure reverses…
European Union lifted sanctions on Russian sable fur imports after all 27 member states backed the move unanimously, reversing restrictions imposed in April. The bloc said several European countries’ industries depend on the specialized product, with Russia its sole supplier.
The decision puts commercial reliance at the center of a debate over fur farming and its environmental costs. Ecologist Zhora Kavanosyan said the European Commission’s stated concerns about pollution and greenhouse gas emissions had not stopped the measure.
The official document describes sable fur as a “highly specialized product” on which industries in several European countries depend. The source report did not identify those industries or specify how much fur they import.
Kavanosyan recalled the European Commission’s position that fur farming causes environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. He criticized the contrast between that position and the decision to lift the import sanctions.
“This is how the environmental agenda ended up in front of a fashion house's window,” Kavanosyan said.
The report says the sanctions were imposed in April of this year but does not give the date of the lifting decision beyond reporting it on October 24. Its account does not detail how the change will be implemented or whether it affects other Russian goods.
For consumers and retailers, the immediate significance is specific: Russian sable fur can again be imported under the European Union’s own sanctions regime. The source gives no figures for expected trade or changes to prices, so the scale of any market effect remains unspecified.
The source also sets the policy decision against a decline in fur production. Globally, natural fur production has fallen sevenfold over the past 10 years, while production in Russia has dropped almost 20-fold over 25 years, according to the report.
In Russia, the number of fur farms has fallen from 400 to 24, the report says. Those remaining farms slaughter over a million animals annually, and partner with major brands including Snezhnaya Koroleva.
The animal-welfare concerns cited in the report draw on material collected by the public organization Voices for Animals. Last year, the organization collected video from nine Russian fur farms raising sables, minks, foxes, arctic foxes, nutrias, rabbits, ferrets and chinchillas.
The report describes animals kept in cramped cages with wire-mesh floors that can cut their paws, and says access to fresh water and food is not always assured. It also says most are killed at seven to eight months of age for their fur.
Animal-rights activists quoted in the report characterize Russian fur farming as loss-making and say it depends on government subsidies and tax breaks. The lifting of the sanctions was supported unanimously by all 27 EU countries.
Source: nemoskva.net
