Over the past two decades, twenty countries have either voted to ban the practice, have prohibited the farming of particular species, or have introduced stricter regulations that have effectively curtailed the practice. As concerns about animal welfare and the ethics of fur continue to grow, proposals to prohibit fur production are presently being considered in many other countries.
Fur bans
Production bans
The first countries to ban fur farming were the United Kingdom (2000) and Austria (2005). In December 2012, the Netherlands, once the EU’s second largest mink producer, passed a ban on fur farming that would phase-out mink fur production entirely by 2024. Following coronavirus outbreaks on Dutch mink fur farms, the government declared an early shutdown of the industry in 2020.
In Croatia fur farming is banned since 2018 after a 10-year phase-out period for farms to transition to a more sustainable industry. Slovenia banned fur farming in March 2013 with a three year phase-out for existing farms.
Other countries that introduced laws to prohibit or phase out fur farming are the Republic of Macedonia (2014), Serbia (2019) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2028). Due to the economic decline of the fur industry, the last Bosnian fur farm shut down in 2020.
Recent
In June 2021, Estonia introduced a ban on fur farming which will become effective in 2026.
In September 2020, France announced a ban on mink fur farming with a 5-year phase-out period. Earlier that year, the new government in Ireland committed to a ban and legislation to prohibit fur farming is being prepared.
In October 2019, Slovakia introduced a law to prohibit fur farming after a transitional period for existing farms until 2025.
In January 2018, Norway, once the world’s largest producer of fox pelts, decided to prohibit fur farming, with a phase-out period until 2025. 2018 also saw two other countries take action: In Belgium, a fur farming ban was introduced which will end the practice in 2023, and in Luxembourg, a ban on fur farming came into effect in October of the same year.
In August 2017, the Czech Republic agreed a ban on fur farming, effective from 2019.
Proposed legislation to prohibit fur farming is currently being considered in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine.
For more information on national fur farming legislation in Europe click here.
STRICTER WELFARE REGULATIONS
Germany introduced animal welfare legislation in 2017, including a 5-year transition period, that required stricter keeping standards (such as increased cages sizes and additional swimming basins for mink). As the industry under the new regulations was not deemed to be profitable anymore, this led to the closure of the last existing German mink farms in 2019 before the new measures came into force.
The introduction of stricter animal welfare requirements in Sweden led to the closure of fox fur farms in 2005 and chinchilla fur farms in 2014. To meet the natural needs of chinchillas, to be able to jump, and of foxes, to dig and socialise, the required living conditions rendered fox and chinchilla farming economically unviable in Sweden.
Switzerland introduced legislation in 2008 that allows animals to be kept captive only in conditions that are equivalent to modern zoos. Therefore fur farming became unprofitable and no longer exists in the country.
Partial bans
*Hungary introduced an immediate ban on the breeding of mink, foxes, polecats and coypu for fur, in November 2020, following concerns on animal welfare and coronavirus outbreaks on mink fur farms across Europe. The ban was introduced as a precautionary measure to prevent fur farmers from moving their operations there.
To prevent ecological damage caused by escaped mink as an invasive alien species, Spain adopted stricter regulations in 2016 which prohibit the building of new mink fur farms.
In 2006, the Japanese Invasive Alien Species Act made it illegal to build new mink fur farms in the country. This led to the phasing-out of fur farming in Japan in 2016 following the closure of the last mink fur farm due to non-compliance.
In 2013 New Zealand introduced a law to prohibit the import of mink, which effectively bans mink farming in the country.
Denmark introduced a ban on fox farming in 2009. In addition, Denmark prohibited the building of new raccoon dog farms in 2011, which led to an effective ban since there are no raccoon dog farms in Denmark.
Before The Netherlands adopted a ban on mink fur farming in 2012, fox and chinchilla fur production was already out-phased in the mid-1990s.
FUR SALES BANS
In June 2021, Israel became the world’s first country to prohibit the sales of fur. The ban will become effective by the end of 2021.
In 2020 a fur sales ban passed in Wellesley, Massachusetts becoming the first town outside of California to make the sales of fur products illegal. And in June 2021, Weston became the second town in Massachusetts to end fur sales.
In October 2019, the State of California became the first state in the US to ban fur sales. The statewide legislation prohibits the sales and production of new fur items starting 2023.
In September 2018, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to ban fur sales. The fur trade ban went into effect in 2021.
San Francisco passed its fur sales ban in March 2018, making it the third U.S. city to prohibit fur sales.
In March 2018, Berkeley became the second US city to ban the sales of fur products.
West Hollywood is the first city in the world that decided to ban the sales of fur in 2011. The ban came into force in 2013, when the value of fur sales in West-Hollywood was estimated at two million dollars annually.
