China removes curbs on fur

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 30, ISSUE 36, NOV. 13, 2006
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.
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International Fur News
with Sandy Parker
China removes curbs on fur
THE INTERNATIONAL FUR TRADE WAS BREATHING A COLLECTIVE SIGH OF RELIEF LAST WEEK, following an announcement by the Chinese government that it had removed raw furs from the list of items facing heavy duties and taxes. For almost a month, the reports out of Beijing were that China had revamped its import policies covering some 1,400 product categories – including raw fur – and was canceling the duty-free status for items that were to be processed and re-exported. Considering China’s preeminence as both buyer of pelts at the auctions as well as supplier of finished fur garments to the world’s leading markets, trade leaders were envisioning a collapse of the industry’s price structure.
The dire prospects stirred up an almost immediate reaction in a number of countries whose industries stood to be affected by the revised regulations and official delegations were sent to Beijing for high-level negotiations. Although the fur trade was dwarfed by such industries as lumber, paper, metal and coal, its representation in those talks evidently was productive. According to a joint announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and National Environment Protection Bureau, the revised list of affected commodities has been whittled down to just 804 and raw fur skins are not among them.
FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES, CHINA’S LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT REMOVING RAW FUR FROM THE RESTRICTED LIST signals a return to pre-existing practices and what may be described as ‘business as usual.’ An earlier report, to the effect that China was considering a one-year moratorium before implementing the new rules, also had been welcomed by the trade because it would have provided time to correct some of the problems that caused furs to be included in that list.
IN THIS ISSUE:
China Removes Curbs on Fur
Restores Status Quo on Imports …
… but Will Still Monitor Situation
Dressers Seeking Other Sites?
Intl. Trade’s Optimism Is Renewed
For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Index. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.
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