The fur industry makes an effort to brand fur products as an ‘ethical choice’ by developing and promoting certificate programs. Contrary to its claims, Origin Assured does not give any guarantees regarding the standard of animal welfare on fur farms. Origin Assured fur is produced on regular fur farms that show similar serious animal welfare problems as any other fur farms.
Origin Assured
Only origins assured
Origin Assured only guarantees that a fur product
is sold through specific auction houses and that the fur has
been produced in a country which has some kind of animal
welfare regulations or standards for fur production. There are
no requirements as to the content of such regulations and no additional demands are made with regard to animal welfare or the overall conditions on farms. Origin Assured fur must derive from certain
approved species but this list is vast.
Origin Assured also includes fur produced in countries
such as Namibia, Romania and Canada as well as fur from species
such as seals.
Reputation management
According to the annual report of Finnish Fur Sales, OA (Origin Assured) is
part of the company’s reputation management and its strategy
to protect itself against damage to its image.
When concern for the welfare of animals is not an end in itself but a means to an economic and political end it should be treated with scepticism.
Read more about fur industry certificates:
Animal welfare problems on Origins Assured farms
'Unreasonable' and 'illegal'
The evaluation made by the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman in 2009 illustrated the limited value of OA. The Ombudsman evaluated the following advertising claim from fur company Pelsinform (Norway):
“When you see the OATM label, you can rest assured that the fur item comes from a country where national standards and regulations for fur farming are being followed.”
The claim was deemed “unreasonable” and “illegal” as the Ombudsman concluded that OA does not ensure farming in accordance with regulations, only that relevant regulations and control do exist.