Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Regulation (EC) No 1523/2007 banning the placing on the market and the import to, or export from, the Community of cat and dog fur, and products containing such fur

Regulation (EC) No 1523/2007 bans the placing on the market and the import to or export from the Union of cat and dog fur and products containing such fur.

The ban was adopted in order to address the concerns of European citizens, who consider cats and dogs as pet animals, and therefore do not want to buy products containing fur from cats or dogs. It harmonized the measures to prohibit cat and dog fur and products containing such fur at EU level since fifteen Member States had adopted national legislation in order to restrict the production and trade of cat and dog fur.

Cat and dog fur is not easily distinguishable from other types of fur or synthetic material used to imitate fur. This is in particular the case when fur is used as lining or ornament on clothes (e.g. collar of a coat) or on toys or accessories (e.g. key rings with furry animals).

Article 7 of the Regulation states that "The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of this Regulation, including customs activities related thereto, no later than 31 December 2010". This report is the Commission's response to this request.

The report aims to give an overview on the implementation of the ban on cat and dog fur in the EU during 2009 and 2010. The adoption of this report was delayed due to the need for the Member States to collect enough information on the implementation of the ban. Some data were received only at the beginning of 2012 allowing a full analysis only during 2012. It describes the enforcement measures put in place by the Member States in order to prevent the placing on the market, the import to or export from the Union of cat and dog fur, and products containing such fur.

In particular, the report provides an overview on the methods of analysis used by the Member States to identify the species of origin of fur and on the penalties applicable in case of infringements. The report highlights the main implementing issues signalled by stakeholders and Member States to the Commission. Finally, this document reports the impact of the application of this Regulation as perceived by the main stakeholders.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)412: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:412:FIN

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