Humane World for Animals has accused the European Commission of an “outrageous” double standard after it exempted Russian sable fur pelts from sanctions, a move the organisation described as an “indefensible concession” to the fur industry.
Dr Joanna Swabe, the organisation’s senior director of public affairs for Europe, said: “At a time when Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine, it is outrageous that the Commission has chosen to reopen the door to one of Russia’s most exclusive luxury exports. Sable fur fashion is not an essential, it is a frivolous status symbol produced through cruelty to animals and sold to serve an industry whose business model belongs firmly in the past.”
Exemption requested by Italy and Greece
The exemption was introduced by Council Regulation (EU) 2026/1848 of 23 July 2026, amending the main Russia sanctions regime. It followed lobbying by Italy and Greece, the principal EU buyers of Russian sable. The measure was adopted by qualified majority, though the detailed voting record has not been published.
Dr Swabe said the only justification offered was the need to protect a supply chain for a high-value niche product. She said: “Yielding to fur industry lobby in this way exposes a deeply troubling double standard. The EU cannot credibly maintain sanctions on Russian luxury goods while carving out exemptions for the raw materials that allow luxury fur manufacturing to continue inside Europe.”
She added: “This decision risks enabling European companies to profit from Russian fur pelts while presenting the public with the fiction of a principled sanctions regime and solidarity with Ukraine.”
Exemptions to the sanctions regime are normally reserved for civilian necessities. Dr Swabe said: “It is reprehensible that national commercial lobbying is apparently shaping the design of EU sanctions in this way. Exemptions to the sanctions regime are meant to protect civilian necessities. We are talking here about things like food and pharmaceutical products, not high-value products like animal fur, which no-one actually needs.”
Fur sector impact
Italy remains home to fashion houses that still use animal fur. Sable, which is not farmed in the EU, has long been sourced almost exclusively from Russia. Greece’s fur sector has been under severe pressure since the war began and finished fur garments could no longer be exported to Russia. Athens has already paid out €3.5 million to manufacturing and wholesale businesses hit by the loss of that market. The ban on exporting finished fur garments from the EU to Russia remains in force.
A typical sable coat is made from the skins of about 40 animals. On farms, animals are confined for life in small barren cages, unable to range, hunt or explore as they would in the wild, and frequently display stereotypic stress behaviours.
Push for EU-wide fur ban
Humane World for Animals linked the episode to its campaign for a complete EU ban on fur farming and the fur trade. More than 1.5 million citizens signed the European Citizens’ Initiative for a Fur Free Europe. The Commission’s formal response to the citizens’ initiative has already been delayed by five months.
Dr Swabe said the Commission’s handling of the sable exemption showed it was “tone deaf and incapable of joined-up thinking”. She said: “Our campaign continues irrespective of this decision. If the Commission does choose to go down the bogus welfare standards route, that will not be the end of the story. We will lobby Members of the European Parliament and EU Member States to challenge and amend any such legislative proposal and push to deliver what EU citizens want, an EU-wide ban on fur farming.”
She added: “The fur industry is cruel, environmentally damaging and antiquated; it should be relegated to the annals of history with a short phase-out period and a just transition for the limited number of business operators who are still involved in fur production.”
Next steps
The organisation is writing to the Commission to express its opposition and is encouraging other NGOs and MEPs to do the same. It will also raise the issue with national governments and is urging member states to contest the exemption and press for its immediate reinstatement on the sanctions list.
