Shops face fines for selling ‘fake’ fur that’s real
‘Misleading and deeply upsetting’
SHOPS have been warned they face legal action including heavy fines if they continue to sell ‘fake’ fur that actually comes from animals.
The Advertising Standards Authority has issued an enforcement notice requiring stores to make greater checks to ensure faux clothing such as coats and hats are true to the description.
Earlier this month, fashion chain Boohoo was found to be misleading shoppers with pompoms on a jumper that were wrongly described as faux fur.
The fur is believed to have come from a Chinese rabbit farm. The company told MPs it had wrongly placed confidence in checking processes and had since reinforced them.
Investigations by campaign group Humane Society International found other leading retailers selling faux fur products that actually came from raccoons, dogs, mink, foxes and even cats. Most of the firms involved have policies promising not to sell real fur, but the evidence suggests thorough checks are not being carried out.
Now the Committee of Advertising Practice, which is part of the ASA, has issued the enforcement notice. Companies that fail to comply by February 11 could face a ban on placing advertisements on Google and Facebook. They could also be referred to trading standards for legal action, which could lead to heavy fines.
The advertising watchdog said retailers should take a strict approach to checking the supply chain and the accuracy of claims before putting products on sale. It said sellers should not assume that the low cost of the product from a supplier is a good indicator it does not contain animal fur. This is because fur from animals is not necessarily more expensive.
Fur farms were banned in the UK in 2003 amid animal cruelty concerns but it is legal to sell products from fur farms in other countries. China is the world’s largest fur exporter. Foxes, mink, rabbits, dogs, cats, and other animals are kept in outdoor wire cages in all weathers. Undercover investigators have found some animals are still alive when they are skinned.
The ASA said retailers should test products to ensure they are not real fur and drop any suppliers that use it.
ASA chief executive Guy Parker said: ‘ Consumers shouldn’t be misled into buying a faux fur product in good conscience only for it to turn out to be made from a real animal. That’s not just misleading, it can also be deeply upsetting.’
Claire Bass, of Humane Society International, said: ‘Fur is a product of animal suffering that most British consumers want nothing to do with. They have the right to be confident that when they buy faux fur they are not being duped.’