Denmark to end mink farming by 2029 after dropping EU exemption bid

Denmark will end mink farming by August 2029 after its government abandoned plans to seek an exemption from an EU-wide ban, reversing the previous administration’s approach and bringing the country’s remaining fur farms towards closure.

The EU ban is due to take effect on 7 August 2027, followed by a two-year transition period. Denmark’s coalition government, elected in June, decided on Friday not to proceed with the exemption application, which had been sought after the EU added mink to its list of invasive species in 2025.

Nature Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said the government had chosen animal welfare. Social Democrat MP Brigitte Vind called the decision “a good day for animal welfare”. The Danish Mink Association, which represents breeders, had been approached for comment.

Denmark was once the world’s largest mink-fur producer, but its industry has shrunk amid international restrictions, a downturn in the fur trade and the impact of a Covid outbreak among farmed mink. In 2020, the government ordered about 15 million mink killed after a mutated strain of the virus was detected; it later admitted it had no legal basis for the cull. Around 15,000 mink remain in Denmark, across seven farms.

The cost of closing the farms has not yet been determined. An animal-welfare spokesperson for one coalition party previously estimated it at about 14 million Danish kroner (£1.56 million), although the final amount could be higher, according to local media.