The ‘fur farm-free Finland’ campaign handed over their initiative to ban fur farming to the parliament last week. Some 70,000 citizens had signed it within the required time period.

The Council hopes to hold a preliminary debate by the first of May, after which the initiative will go to the Agriculture and Forestry Committee. The initiative’s fate beyond this point is completely open – it may end up buried by the Committee.

The new law, which came into force on 1 March, allows interest groups who gather signatures from 50,000 Finns within six months to have their legislative proposal considered by Parliament.

According the Speaker’s Council, the way the first initiative is handled will be a model for dealing with similar such initiatives in the future, therefore it is important to hear opinions from all parliamentary groups.

Answers are expected from the parliamentary parties by 8 April.