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FUR COMMISSION USA PRESS RELEASE, JUNE 6, 2003
Norwegian Fur Farmers' Future Assured
The Norwegian parliament has given its strong reassurance to the country's fur farmers that their industry has a future.
With fur farming already banned in the UK, animal rights groups have been piling the pressure on other European governments in the hope of similar "successes". In Norway, their ally is the Socialist Party, whose manifesto states they wish to ban fur farming.
But this week, a move by the Socialists to push a ban through was roundly defeated.
Presented by the Socialists as a white paper on animal welfare, the future of fur farming had been considered by parliament for months. But when the issue finally came to a vote, 90% of parliamentarians voted in favor of the fur industry. Almost all those voting against were Socialists.
"We see the governmental support as a vote of confidence in us, and now that we know who voted against us, we know where to concentrate our efforts from now on," said Odd Harald Nordsveen, head of the Norwegian Fur Breeders' Association. "Most of all we are greatly satisfied to know that the fur industry has a future in Norway."
A recent opinion poll showed that two-thirds of Norwegians are supportive of fur farming.
See also: FCUSA Press Kit Special Feature : Euro Watch
For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.
To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit Fur Commission USA's Fur on Film at http://www.furcommission.com/video/index.htm