The fur sector is tightly regulated by state, national, and international laws and regulations in addition to industry codes of practice and programmes that are subjected to extensive third-party inspection and certification. These regulations cover everything from animal welfare to environmental impact including cage sizes, types of traps to the feed and disposal of waste materials. For example, the farm-based programme that covers Europe, WelFur, is recognised as an example of best practice by the European Commission, which means the system has been scrutinized for its validity and credibility, and qualifies for legal implementation. WelFur is based on scientific methodology and is developed by independent researchers from seven European universities in accordance with the principles of the European Commission’s Welfare Quality programme.
The fur sector engages with Governments and bodies such as CITES, IUCN, AIHTS to drive up animal welfare standards. The International Fur Federation (IFF) created a single certification framework for natural fur, as well as introducing new components which are subject to certification. This is Furmark®.
Furmark® responds to consumer demands for simple, recognisable, and global certification, indicated by a clear mark. Furmark® is a comprehensive global certification system and encompasses individual certification programmes (including WelFur). Each programme has a specific, independently-developed science-based protocol/standard. The respective programmes are then subject to third-party assessment and certified by a recognised certification body.
The system includes a traceability component (accessible to the consumer) and a quality mark (indicating certification). Furmark® products are traceable, verified, and guaranteed to have met
recognised standards.
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