Agreement reached for a ban on seal products in Europe

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

If passed, this would prohibit seal products being placed on the market in the EU, cutting off a primary market for the Canadian commercial sealing industry and removing the world’s leading fashion centres from the sealskin trade. Representatives of the Canadian sealing industry have indicated that an EU ban on seal product trade could spell the end of the commercial seal hunt in Canada.

Mark Glover, campaigns director of Respect for Animals said: “The European Parliament now holds in its hands the fate of millions of seals and a historic opportunity to stop cruel commercial slaughter of baby seals.  I urge all MEPS, from all parties and all countries to do the right thing on 5th May and vote to end this cruel trade.”

Labour Euro MP Arlene McCarthy, Chair of the influential Consumer Protection Committee who chaired the final meetings to reach an agreement last week, said: “We have worked extremely hard over recent weeks in the face of heavy lobbying from countries that export this cruel trade. We took a tough line and are happy that the Council and Commission have backed our call for a ban.

“The original proposal for a weak regime of labelling of products put forward by the Lib Dem Rapporteur, Diane Wallis was roundly defeated in committee and we are now on track to get a full ban.”

In 2009, prices paid for sealskins in Canada are reportedly as low as $15 CDN - a decline of 86 percent since 2006. Sealing industry representatives have said that the decline is largely due to the pending EU ban. The number of seals killed in the 2009 Canadian seal hunt has declined along with the prices; hundreds of thousands of seals may be spared this year alone if the EU follows through on its commitment to prohibit trade in seal products.

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