THIS month a committee of trade officials from all countries in the EU voted 14 to one for a postponement of the Europe-wide ban on fur from animals caught in cruel leghold traps, due to start on January 1, 1996.

Of all the EU countries, only Britain did not support the postponement of the ban.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) believes they caved in to intense pressure from the Canadian and US governments concerned about the effect of the ban on trade with the EU.

The EU voted to ban the use of the leghold trap in 1991. It also voted to ban fur imports from countries outside the Union by 1996 unless they adopted internationally agreed 'humane' trapping standards or banned the leghold trap.

Attempts to agree on a 'humane' standard failed, but the US and Canada could still ban the trap, as Russia has done, to maintain their fur exports.

They have refused to do so, instead shamelessly exploiting sympathies for native Canadians, claiming their livelihoods are threatened by the ban when in fact they have little or no stake in the multi-million dollar fur industry. The leghold trap is so cruel it has already been banned in over 60 countries worldwide.

Vital European legislation to protect animals and the environment must not be abandoned in the face of trade threats from outside the EU.

Readers can help by writing to EU Trade Commissioner, Sir Leon Britain, Rue de la Loi 200, B1049 Brussels, insisting that the ban goes ahead.

HILARY CROSS, Press Officer, WSPA, Langley Lane, London.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.