Fur Trading Prohibition in Israel (non-official translation)

The 18th Knesset

A private bill by Member of Knesset: Nitzan Horovitz

Fur Trading Prohibition , 5769-2009

Definitions 1.
In this law -
"Fur" – the body cover of a mammal, which was skinned from it for the purpose of producing fur products
"Fur Products" – any item which is made, predominantly or partly, of fur, for the purpose of being worn or for any other purpose
"Artificial Fur" – a product similar to fur in its properties or looks, yet which isn’t made of fur, but of synthetic materials
"Research" – ecological, zoological or biological research only, which is conducted by a research institution, not for profit
"Research Institution" – a scientific, research-based, medical, educational or higher-education institution where ecological, zoological or biological research is being conducted
"The Commissioner" – as defined in the Animal Welfare Law (Protection of Animals) 5754-1994
"The Minister" – The Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor

Aims 2.
The purpose of this law is to prohibit the production of, and trading in, fur and fur products in Israel

Prohibition on fur manufacturing and trade 3.
(a) No one in Israel is allowed to rear animals with the purpose of producing fur products
(b) No one in Israel is allowed to produce fur products
(c) No one in Israel is allowed to trade in fur products
(d) Should anyone trade in artificial furs – he must be in possession of a lab certificate proving it is not made of fur
(e) Such certificates as mentioned in clause 3(d) will be kept for any artificial fur product line in the trader’s possession

Prohibition on imports 4.
No one is allowed to import fur or fur products from foreign countries

Scientific research exception 5.
(a) The Commissioner may grant permits to trade in fur for research purposes
(b) Any such permit will be given to a research institution, on an individual basis for a specific research project, and will be valid for one year only from the day it was granted. The Commissioner will grant the individual permit only once he was convinced that the requestor keeps in his possession a minimal number of furs required for such research. Any renewal of the permit the following year will be subject to this condition
(c) Once the research was concluded, or once the permit allowing its continuation was revoked, the fur items will be taken for safe keeping in the State of Israel’s national natural history collections

Punishment 6.
(a) Any person found in breach of the provisions of this law is liable to one-year imprisonment or to the fine prescribed in section 61(a)(2) of the Penal Law
(b) Any business trading in fur or fur products will be closed and its merchandise confiscated
(c) Any furs and fur products confiscated according to clause 6(b) above will be destroyed

Explanations

The fur industry is a cruel one, which inflicts terrible and unnecessary suffering on many mammals in order to provide luxuries aimed at only a very small section of the population. It is estimated that 75 million animals are skinned alive annually for this industry.

In fur product manufacturing farms around the world many animals are reared in terrible conditions, including dogs, cats, minks, foxes, rabbits, chinchillas and others. Once they reach the right size, these animals are killed for their skin. In order not to hurt the raw material, in many cases the animal is shocked, or killed by electricity or gas, or even skinned alive.

Other furs come from wild animals hunted specifically for that purpose. A good example of this are seal pups, half a million of which are hunted each March in countries such as Canada. Hunters catch the pups and hit them with blunt objects until they become unconscious, and then skin them. On top of the cruelty involved in producing the furs, near-extinct wild animals, as well as whole ecological systems, also suffer serious damage.

Recently it was revealed that fur clothing sold in Israeli fashion chains as synthetic furs actually came from dogs and cats reared in China and sold as synthetic furs while misleading the consumers. As much as this saddens and shocks us, it appears that producing cat and dog furs is cheaper than synthetic furs. Knowledgeable sources report that what’s referred to as "mislabeling" is a common practice, where the manufacturer deliberately attaches a misleading label in order to present cat and dog furs as synthetic furs or as wild animal furs. This is done in order to prevent consumers from being shocked by wearing furs whose origin are household pets.

27 EU countries, as well as the USA and Australia, have laws prohibiting the import and export of cat and dog furs. 5 countries prohibit the importing and selling of seal furs. Such a law is due to come up for discussion in the EU in April 2009.

Once it enacts this law, Israel will join, in its attitude to animals and natural values, the ranks of other enlightened countries around the world.

| More

Facebook	Myspace
Twitter	YouTube

IAFC

Fur trade

Campaigns

Materials

Contact

Fur Trading Prohibition in Israel (non-official translation)

Join us!