A new fur labelling initiative to improve consumer information has been approved by European members of the International Fur Trade Federation (IFTF).

The scheme, which will be introduced on September 1, 2003, means that customers will know exactly what type of fur they are buying at the point of purchase. The new label will identify clearly the species of the fur in its Latin name and the local language or an English translation. It will also include care instructions and the name of the garment’s retailer or manufacturer.

IFTF is a federation of 33 national fur trade associations from 27 countries, which seeks to protect the interests of the fur trade. Chairman, Andreas Lenhart said: “This scheme has been in the pipeline for some years, but it has taken a long time to develop a professional system which all our European member associations agree on. We now have a scheme that I believe will benefit both consumers and traders.”

The Italian Fur Trade Association pioneered the design and registration of the label under the Italian National Standards Institute (UNI) standard 11007. It was also designed in conjunction with the Quality Certification Institute for the Tanning Industry (Icec). Other European members will now base their label on the Italian specification and some IFTF members have already introduced the scheme ahead of the September 1 deadline.

Philippe Verhaque, a furrier from Caen and also the recently elected chairman of the French Fur Federation said the labelling scheme is a “moral contract” between the furrier and the customer. He said: “By labelling our products we are delivering a clearly identified product to the consumer and have a moral obligation to fulfil the requirements on the label."

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