By Francesca Ross - 28th July 2009
The EU will "vigorously defend" the values of EU citizens in the face of a challenge to the ban on selling seal products says MEP Arlene McCarthy.
Following a controversial passage through the European parliament, involving McCarthy as chair of the assembly's internal market committee, EU member states agreed on Monday to back the ban.
Canada immediately announced that it plans to challenge the ban saying the deal "violates WTO guidelines".
Ottawa's international trade minister Stockwell Day explained, "It is in our view inappropriate that a trade decision is taken which is not based on the science, and for that reason, we are announcing that we'll be pursuing an appeal of this vote."
McCarthy told this website that, "At a time when Canada and the EU are negotiating a free trade deal worth almost €9bn to Canadians, it is discouraging to see Canadian government officials make counterproductive threats of WTO challenge."
"The ban is WTO compliant, and for Canada to suggest otherwise is misleading. The EU will vigorously defend the values of EU citizens within the WTO and within the free trade negotiations should any challenge be made."
The regulation covers products derived from all species of seals and includes fur skins, organs, meat, oil and blubber, which can, for instance, be used in cosmetics and medicine.
The new act will come into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The harmonised rules will become effective nine months later, giving the commission and the member states time to put in place the necessary implementing measures.
Products from traditional hunts which are vital for the survival of groups such as the Inuit populations of Greenland and Canada will be exempt from the ban.
However, Andy Lenhart, chairman of the International Fur Trade Federation, claims that the decision would inevitably have a negative impact for these groups.
He said, "This ban only succeeds in punishing Inuit and other remote coastal peoples by ensuring that the market for their goods has collapsed. Apparently it doesn’t matter to the European parliament how seals are hunted, so long as there is no trade in seal by-product"
"It completely ignores all the very serious legal, WTO and welfare concerns of many and is an example of the kind of bad legislation the European parliament claims it tries to avoid."
Long-time advocate of the seal ban Green MEP Caroline Lucas noted the potential impact of the ban on indigenous communities, saying her party would fight to ensure their way of life was maintained, but generally welcomed the final agreement of the law.
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