Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of regulations to prevent dog and cat fur from entering the UK.

The import, export and placing on the market of cat and dog fur, and products made from such fur is prohibited under EU legislation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1523/2007). As part of our exit from the EU and through the Great Repeal Bill, these controls will be carried over into UK law.

Border Force will act to enforce the legislation if illegal cat and dog fur products are detected during the course of carrying out other customs import and export checks, or following receipt of specific intelligence. In these cases, samples are taken and forensically examined. Consignments are seized where they are confirmed to contain cat or dog fur.