The event had been organised in order to pull together a mix of international and Russian wild fur expertise to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the industry. Of course discussion of sable was dominant as the most famous and economically significant Russian fur type. There was an open and constructive discussion on administrative and regulatory burdens that had been placed on sable that if addressed could strengthen the industry for the future.
There was strong international representation from United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, China, Italy and Kazakhstan. IFF was well represented by board members Sergey Stolbov and Kadir Kilic and Director of Standards Welfare and Environment Mark Boyle.
Among the presentations were updates from the wild-fur producing regions of Russia, an explanation of the structures of Canadian wild fur management and an update on the development of the traceability and certification efforts co-ordinated by IFF.
At the conclusion of the conference a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between IFF member the Fur Institute of Canada and their Russian counterparts who they have been working with on trap-testing and expertise-sharing.