Brussels, 12/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament is preparing to defend at first reading (codecision procedure) a very clear position against the cruel and brutal trade of cat and dog fur, which mainly originates in Asia. With the adoption on Thursday 12 April of the report by Eva-Britt Svensson (GUE/NGL, Sweden), the EP committee on the internal market and consumer protection withdrew from the initial proposal all derogation to the ban on the marketing or import/export into the EU of cat and dog fur, or of products containing such fur. The European Commission, we would point out, suggests imported dog and cat fur should not be banned if the fur comes from animals that are not raised specifically for their fur. The Commission also suggests that the introduction into the EU of personal or domestic items containing the fur of these animals should be tolerated. Such derogations, the rapporteur explains, would open up a loophole in the legislation, to be shamelessly exploited by traders responsible for all future dog and cat fur trading, thus making the whole of the regulation pointless. The parliamentary committee takes the side of the majority of European agriculture ministers who, at the end of January this year, had expressed concern about the derogations to the general rule of a ban on the trade of dog and cat fur (EUROPE 9355). (lc)