In brief
Denmark’s government has reversed its plans to keep mink farming exempt from a European Union ban and announced a complete shutdown of the industry by August next year. The decision follows a history of high‑profile culls, an earlier pandemic‑related outbreak of COVID‑19 in mink, and global pressure against fur production. While the ban will commence on 7 August with a two‑year phase‑in, the move is seen as a win for animal welfare but also a blow to a sector that once dominated the world fur market. The new policy means the remaining seven Danish farms will close and existing mink populations will be reduced to a few thousand. Industry stakeholders face uncertain costs and a shift toward alternative livelihoods.
Denmark will stop mink farming by 2029 after scrapping plans for an exemption to a Europe‑wide ban on the practice.
Once the world’s largest producer of mink fur, the country’s industry has shrunk because many markets ban fur, demand has fallen, and a COVID‑19 outbreak in 2020 prompted a mass cull of roughly 15 million animals.
The new ban takes effect on 7 August next year, followed by a two‑year transition period that will phase out the practice completely.
Nature Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said the choice was about animal welfare and society’s sense of right and wrong. “A business should not continue just because it has existed for a long time. It should also make sense for society, for the economy and for the animals,” he said.
The government had earlier sought an exemption when the EU listed the mink as an invasive species in 2025, but the current coalition turned back on that effort on Friday.
Social Democrat MP Brigitte Vind hailed the decision as “good day for animal welfare” and called it the correct stance not to pursue a special scheme for breeding Denmark’s minks.
The Danish Mink Association, representing the remaining producers, has been asked to comment, though no official reply has been received yet.
Today, Denmark still keeps a handful of farms operating the last few tens of thousands of animals, but the industry has been overtaken by producers in Poland and China.
When the government ordered the cull in 2020, it later admitted it had no legal basis for the operation, a fact that led to international criticism.
The final cost of shutting down the seven remaining farms is still unclear; early estimates suggested around 14 million Danish krone, but the figure could rise.
Fur garments remain a polarising topic in fashion, with a move away from genuine fur in recent years, though a recent resurgence in vintage and faux fur has turned the spotlight back on the material.
