Brussels, 31/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EU is seeking a way of banning the import into the EU of cat and dog furs and pelts from Asia, where the animals are badly treated. Various Member States already ban such imports (Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece and Italy) but for legal reasons, no EU ban has yet been imposed. The issue was raised at the Agriculture Council on Monday. Sweden is urging the European Commission to take measures to ban the import of cat and dog fur, supported by France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Slovenia. European Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said there was the necessary political will for a ban, and instructed his department to examine the legal basis for it - either animal welfare rules (but the EU cannot ban imports on animal welfare grounds) or consumer protection (labelling).