Fur trade thwarts anti-fur legislation

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2010:
(published October 5, 2010)
BRUSSELS, TEL AVIV, SACRAMENTO–Fur trade lawyers and
lobbyists three times in less than 40 days kept anti-fur legislation
from taking effect.
The European Union ban on imports of seal products, mostly
pelts, officially took effect on August 20, 2010, more than a year
after final passage in July 2009, but the European Court of Justice
on August 19 stayed enforcement against the plaintiffs in a lawsuit
seeking to overturn the ban, brought by the Canadian Seal Marketing
Group, the Fur Institute of Canada, NuTan Furs, the Inuit
Circumpolar Conference Greenland, and GC Reiber Skinn AS of Norway,
as well as individual hunters and trappers. Among them, the
plaintiffs include most of the sealing industry. The General Court
gave them until September 7 to file arguments against the ban. A
verdict is due before the start of the 2011 Atlantic Canada sealing
season.

The Canadian government has also appealed to the World Trade
Organization, arguing that the ban violates global trade law.
The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, was on September 2,
2010 expected to vote in favor of a fur trade ban, which includes a
limited exemption for traditional religious garments, but on
September 1 minister of religious services Yakov Margi, at reported
request of the International Fur Trade Federation, successfully
moved that the bill be sent back to the Legislative Committee of
Ministers for further review.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 27,
2010 vetoed AB 1656, a bill which would close–at least within
California–a loophole in federal law that exempts fur garments
priced at $150 or less from being accurately labeled as to being fur
and as to what animal the fur comes from.
Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and
Wisconsin have already adopted similar legislation.