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 seek legal advice on whether the UK can introduce a ban on the import of fur while the UK is a member of the EU.

The Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) places restrictions on the introduction of measures that impair the free movement of goods within the EU market.

Where there are EU harmonising measures relevant to the movement of fur – including the Animal By-Products Regulation in respect of untreated fur and the Seal Products Regulation – any derogation from those in the form of a national restriction would need to meet the requirements of Article 114 TFEU or any specific safeguard measure included in the harmonising legislation. This would involve notifying the measures to the European Commission who would need to be satisfied that the issue is “specific to that Member State”, that it would not amount to a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade, or an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market.

Introducing a ban in the absence of such consent where it is needed would breach Article 114 TFEU.