By Nikki Tait in Brussels

Published: July 24 2008 06:20 | Last updated: July 24 2008 06:20

Brussels on Wednesday proposed to outlaw trading in seal products which breach animal welfare standards. The move brought cheers from animal rights campaigners but risks triggering tensions with Canada.

The European Commission’s proposal would ban the import into the EU of products that came from seals that had been killed in an unnecessarily painful way. A similar ban would also be placed on the transiting of such products through the European bloc and on exports from the EU.
Trade in seal products would only be allowed if guarantees could be provided that the animals were hunted in a way that met “high animal welfare standards” and “that the animals did not suffer unnecessarily”.

“Seal products coming from countries which practice cruel hunting methods must not be allowed to enter the EU,” said EU enviroment commissioner Stavros Dimas on Wednesday.

“The EU is committed to upholding high standards of animal welfare.”

The commission said that scientists at the European Food Safety Authority believed that seals could be killed rapidly and efficiently, but that effective killing does not always take place in practice. There have been concerns, for example, that seals are sometimes struck and then lost, resulting in suffering, and also that skinning may take place while animals remain concious.

On Wednesday night, Loyola Hearn, Canadian fisheries minister, said the country would be “reviewing how the proposed regulations and any exemptions would apply to Canada”.

“Canada expects the EU to quickly begin discussions on the conditions for exemption from the draft regulations so that any any trade restriction would have no impact on market access for products from Canada’s humane regulated and responsible hunt”, he said. “We will continue to stand up for sealers to protect the Canadian sealing industry and our markets”.

On Wednesday, EU officials said a certification scheme would be established in countries where seal-hunting continued. This might also be accompanied by a labelling system to ensure that seal products that were traded were clearly identified as coming from countries meeting strict conditions.

The commission’s move was welcomed by animal rights campaigners, but many called for a more comprehensive ban. “European citizens demand a total ban on seal product trade. It is essential that the EU ends its trade in all products derived from commercial seal hunts,” said Mark Glover, at the Humane Society International.

“The people of Europe and the European Parliament will accept nothing less than a total ban,” said Neil Parish, a UK Conservative MEP who is president of the Euopean Parliament’s animal welfare group.

However, the move may trigger problems with Canada which exports over C$5m-worth of seal products to the EU annually. It has already said that public pressure to curtail the seal product trade in Europe has been driven by misinformation from anti-sealing organisations and claimed that its own hunts are humane and sustainable.

Canada also lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organisation over Dutch and Belgian bans on seal products last year.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Seal hunt reeling from EU proposed ban
BY TARA BRAUTIGAM
The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The future of Canada’s commercial harp seal hunt, a centuries-old industry and way of life for several thousand East Coast fishermen, was thrown into question Wednesday after the European Union proposed a partial ban of seal products.

Countries that “practice cruel hunting methods” would not be allowed to send seal products to the 27-nation bloc under legislation proposed by EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

“The images of seal hunting that circulate around the globe every year are a reminder of the oftentimes gruesome practices used to kill seals,” Dimas told a news conference in Brussels.

“European citizens find this practice is repugnant and in contradiction to our standards of animal welfare.”

The proposed ban needs the support of the EU’s 27 governments and the European Parliament before it can take effect.
Dimas’s move comes after intense pressure from animal welfare organizations, and despite lobbying efforts from the Canadian and Newfoundland and Labrador governments.

Jack Troake, who has hunted seals off the coast of Twillingate, N.L., since 1951, said he was not surprised by the move, but was disappointed nonetheless.

“All of this gallivanting around back and forth from Canada to Europe, discussing and debating this stuff, that never accomplished anything,” Troake said.

“It will be interesting to see now if this is the final end, to see what kind of a stand that Ottawa takes on our behalf, which I’m pretty well sure won’t be very harsh.”

A spokesman for federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said the minister was in transit and unavailable for comment.
Animal welfare groups reacted with cautious optimism.

“European politicians are doing for Canadians what our own politicians will not — that is, listen to the majority opposition to this cruel, unsustainable and unnecessary hunt,” said Sheryl Fink, an Ontario-based researcher with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Animal rights activists have called for the end to Canada’s commercial seal hunt, the largest marine mammal slaughter in the world, for several decades.

Seal hunters in Atlantic Canada say the hunt is humane, sustainable and an important part of their annual income, particularly in remote coastal communities where there is little else to do in the winter.

“We do it because it’s part of our culture and we try to survive on this rock,” Troake said.

The ban, if passed, would shut down critical shipment points for the sealing industry, including Holland and Germany.
Canada’s largest markets for seal products, such as Russia, China and Norway, are outside the EU. But some in the sealing industry fear an EU ban would curb the demand for sealskins from the fashion industry and disrupt shipping routes.

The seal hunt’s roots run deep in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the seal was once second only to cod as the most economically valuable species.

Canada rejects Brussels ban on its seal skins

by Staff Writers
Ottawa (AFP) July 10, 2008

Canada's prime minister on Thursday warned the European Commission president not to prohibit Canadian seal skins, arguing that public pressure for a ban is based on misinformation from activists.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, according to a statement, "that it is imperative for European Union member nations to consider their next steps carefully as they discuss any measure that would restrict or exclude the sale of seal products within their borders."

The two leaders met on the sidelines of a G8 summit in Japan.

Harper said Canada's hunt is "humane, sustainable and regulated," and added "public pressure within the European Union to curb the sale of seal products is based on misinformation from anti-sealing organizations and extremist groups."

Each year, anti-sealing activists clash with sealers and Canadian fisheries officials on Canada's Atlantic coast, denouncing the hunt as cruel.

Protestors have called for a complete halt to all trade in seal furs, but World Trade Organization rules would make such a step impossible, a European source said.

The commission is expected to make a decision whether to ban the importation of furs made from the skins of young seals hunted in Canada when it meets on July 23.

It will then look to the EU's 27 member states to approve or vote down the measure.

But Harper warned: "Canada will not stand by and accept measures that fly in the face of accepted international practices for sustainability and trade and undermine trade of seal products harvested in accordance with international standards