Is fur banned in the UK?

6 October 2026

What the law actually says in 2026

By the ACTAsia Compassion in Fashion team · Updated 5 October 2026. Fur law is under active debate in Parliament. This page reflects the position in early October 2026. General information, not legal advice.

No. Fur farming has been banned across the UK since the early 2000s, but it is still legal to import, sell, buy and wear most real fur. Only some furs are banned, including cat, dog and commercial seal fur and fur from protected species. Campaigners want an import and sales ban, but as of October 2026 none has become law.

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The short answer: the UK banned fur farming, not fur

It is one of the most misunderstood rules in British animal welfare. Many people assume that because fur farms are illegal, fur itself must be too. It is not. The UK stopped farming animals for fur more than twenty years ago, but it never stopped people buying fur made elsewhere.

Be wary of websites claiming the UK banned fur sales in 2026. That has not happened. In fact, in April 2026 the government indicated it would not introduce a ban on fur imports while it negotiated a new trade agreement with the European Union, and set up a working group on the fur trade instead.

Is fur farming legal in the UK?

No. Fur farming is banned in every part of the UK. England and Wales passed the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000, and Scotland and Northern Ireland followed with their own laws in 2002. The bans were fully in force across the UK by 2003, making Britain one of the first countries in the world to end fur farming.

Is it illegal to wear or own fur in the UK?

No. It is legal to own, wear, inherit or give away real fur in the UK, whether it is a new coat or a vintage one passed down the family. The law does not penalise individuals for having fur. The rules that exist apply to trade: what can be imported and sold, and how it must be labelled.

Is it illegal to sell fur in the UK?

For most species, no. Mink, fox, rabbit, raccoon dog and chinchilla fur can all legally be imported and sold in the UK, new or second-hand, as long as the item is correctly labelled. A small number of furs are banned outright.

Which furs are illegal in the UK?

Why is fur farming banned in the UK?

Parliament banned fur farming because keeping animals purely for their fur was judged unacceptable, reflecting strong public opinion against it. The scientific case has only grown since. In March 2026, the government’s own advisory body, the Animal Welfare Committee, published an opinion concluding that the welfare needs of animals farmed for fur cannot be met within existing commercial production systems. That matches the European Food Safety Authority’s 2025 findings on fur farms in Europe.Never trespass, confront the person or put yourself at risk to gather evidence. Your safety comes first, and entering private property can also undermine a case.

Picture: Oikeutta elaimille / We Animals

The loophole: the UK still imports fur

Because imports remain legal, the UK still brings in tens of millions of pounds of fur each year from countries where fur farming continues. Campaigners describe this as exporting cruelty: Britain will not allow the farms here, but still buys their products from abroad.

Much of that fur comes from Asia. According to Humane World for Animals, the UK imported more than £60 million of fur from China between 2016 and 2025, making China the single biggest source of fur sold in Britain. That is why what happens in Asian markets matters directly to British shoppers.

What laws regulate fur labelling on clothing in the UK?

Under the Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012 and retained EU textile rules, any textile product containing real fur, leather or other animal parts must carry the phrase “contains non-textile parts of animal origin”. Retailers can add the species, such as mink or rabbit, but the phrase itself is mandatory. Labelling real fur as faux is an offence, enforced by Trading Standards.

In practice, the rule is widely broken or misunderstood. Evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry found that 87% of 188 fur-trimmed garments examined for sale in the UK carried no label indicating real fur. The label also does not say “fur” outright, which is why our guide to telling real fur from faux is worth knowing before you buy.

Will the UK ban fur imports and sales?

Not yet, though pressure is strong. Here is where things stand.

Public support is clear. Polling found 77% of Britons back a ban on fur imports. Whether it happens may now depend on how the UK’s trade relationship with the EU develops.

ACTAsia’s view. Banning fur farms at home was the right first step, but it is only half the job. As long as demand exists, animals will be caged somewhere else, and much of the fur sold in Britain comes from Asia. That is why ACTAsia works on demand in Asia itself, through its Compassion in Fashion programme, helping designers, students and shoppers choose fur-free. Laws change markets, but education changes minds.

What ACTAsia does about fur

ACTAsia is an Asian-founded, Asian-led charity, registered in England and Wales (no. 1127625), that has worked on fur and fashion in Asia for years. Its Compassion in Fashion programme reaches the people who decide what gets made and bought, from design students to consumers, in the region where most of the world’s fur is now produced. ACTAsia’s analysis finds a pound goes around three times as far in Asia as in the West (Grant C., 2024).