THE European Commission (EC) has
postponed the ban on importing furs of
animals to the end of 1996. This
one-year delay was chosen over the
option of imposing the ban immediately
on limited species only. According to
officials, it was a question of implementing legislation with limited effect or with long term consequences.
European Union (EU) faced sustained lobbying against the ban from
trappers in Canada, Russia and us. They
claimed that aborigines will be hard hit
once the ban is implemented. It would
also affect 1,70,000 EU citizens worng
in the fur industry. A group of aborigine
trappers accused Eu of committing
"Cultural genocide" by enforcing the
ban. They also alleged that no consultation was done before reaching the decision.
Deferment of the ban has angered
some deputies in the European
Parliament. They have started writing
fiery letters to all Commissioners,
demanding the ban to be enforced from
January 1996. British socialist deputy,
Ken Collins, has stated that EC was not
complying with EU'S laws, though it was
bound to.
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