Image captionHundreds of mink are kept in each shed

Voluntary scheme

The new welfare inspections are due to start in January 2017. They will cover the three main fur animal species farmed in Europe - the mink, the blue fox and the silver fox.

Fur Europe - the trade association behind the scheme - says an independent company is being used to conduct the checks.

Farmers will have to pay towards the cost of their assessments, but taking part is voluntary.

"It is voluntary, yes, but to which extent, you can discuss," says Mette Lykke Hansen, Fur Europe's chief executive.

"We have had a statement from the European auction houses saying that from 2020, they will not sell skins that are not Welfur certified, so if you are not in the system, it will be very difficult to sell your skins from 2020 and onwards."

If any farm that opts for an assessment fails to reach an acceptable welfare score, it will also be unable to sell its furs at European auction houses, according to Fur Europe.

It does not intend to publish each farm's score - individual farmers can choose to do that if they wish. Instead, it says it will publish only aggregated data, possibly for each country.

Image captionThe fur farmer Ceslovas Tallat-Kelpsa on one of his farms in Lithuania

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