Many people find fur attractive, but don’t want fur-bearing animals to die for it. Fake fur seems to be a good alternative here. But be careful: real fur is often confused with fake fur. Distinguishing the two is sometimes surprisingly difficult. There are several reasons for this:
- Similarity: Modern faux fur is usually of good quality and often looks very authentic. It is hardly noticeable when a fur bobble is made of real fur. On the other hand, for fashion use, real fur is often processed, sheared and dyed so that it doesn’t look as natural as it used to be. Therefore, real and faux fur can hardly be distinguished from each other in terms of appearance.
- Missing label: The declaration of real fur is deficient, as studies show. In the case of fur trimmings in particular, there is rarely an indication on the garment that provides information as to whether it is real fur or faux fur.
- Hardly any price differences: Especially with fur-trimmed accessories, the price gives little indication of whether real fur or artificial fur was used. Real fur trimmings are now manufactured with extremely low production costs and are therefore also offered very cheaply.
What is the legal situation regarding the labeling of fur? According to the EU labeling regulation that has been in force since May 2012, only textile items of clothing that contain less than 20 percent real fur must be labeled with the note «contains non-textile parts of animal origin». It is impossible to identify whether the animal parts of a jacket are the down filling, the leather straps on the zipper or the real fur trimmings on the hood. Garments that contain more than 20 percent real fur do not need to be labeled at all. In addition, since the regulation only covers textiles, a wide range of products such as shoes, handbags and keychain accessories that contain real animal fur can be offered in stores without any labeling at all.
According to surveys, 86 percent of consumers reject real fur. They rely on clear labeling when shopping. If a hat is labeled as 100 percent acrylic even though the bobble is made of real fur, that is nothing more than consumer deception. Switzerland shows that there is another way: There, the animal species with the correct species name, the country of origin and the type of fur production must be clearly named on the label of the clothing.
The For Free Alliance (FFA), an international coalition of 40 animal welfare organizations, submitted an explosive report to the European Parliament in September 2017. This shows that the EU regulation on the labeling of real fur in textile products, introduced in 2012, is only very poorly complied with. As a member of the FFA, supports the EU Commission’s call for transparent, consumer-friendly labeling of real fur products in the EU.
As members of the international Fur Free Alliance, together with the German Animal Welfare Association examined 87 items of clothing from 47 shops in Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Augsburg and Munich in autumn 2016. The products come from boutiques and street stands, well-known national and international fashion chains and department stores as well as luxury labels and range in price from eight to 1,195 euros. 79 of the appraised garments would have to be labeled according to EU specifications, but the required information was missing from the label for 50 percent. In the case of products under 50 euros, the reference was even missing in over 80 percent. For items under 10 euros, the prescribed labeling was missing 100 percent.
Inadequate labeling is not only a problem in Germany. Retail searches of 667 items of clothing made with real animal fur in ten EU countries revealed that 68 percent of the cases lacked the required labeling. In all of the EU countries examined – Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic – there were clear labeling violations. In Austria, 49 percent of fur goods were not labeled correctly, in Germany 51 percent and in Great Britain even 93 percent.
These major labeling deficits underpin that the EU Textile Labeling Regulation (1007/2011) – even if fully complied with – is not sufficient to enable consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.
We call on the federal government to advocate transparent and consumer-friendly labeling regulations at EU level!
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