EU Executive Tries to Limit Cruelty of Seal Hunts

Pete Harrison PlanetArk 24 Jul 08;

BRUSSELS - The European Commission adopted proposals on Wednesday to ban the import of pelts from seals that have endured excessive suffering while being killed, risking possible trade conflicts with hunting nations.

While stopping short of calling for a total ban, the EU's executive body said products from the 900,000 seals hunted each year should be accepted in the EU only with guarantees that the seal has been killed as humanely as possible.

None of the 15 seal species that are currently hunted is endangered, but European environmentalists and politicians have demanded action after finding what they say is evidence that seals are often skinned while still conscious.

Typically, the animals are first shot or bludgeoned over the head with a spiked club known as a hakapik.

"European citizens find these practices repugnant," Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told reporters. "Seal products coming from countries which practise hunting methods that involve unnecessary pain and suffering must not be allowed to enter the EU."

Last year, Belgium and the Netherlands imposed their own bans on imports such as seal furs and vitamin products, prompting a trade complaint from Canada on the grounds that their accusations of cruelty were unfounded.

The Canadian government said the seal hunt off its east coast -- which kills around 300,000 animals a year -- is humane and urged the EU not to "bow to misinformation and emotional rhetoric" from critics.

Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said he expected the EU to quickly begin discussions to ensure Canadian seal products would be exempted from any ban.

"We would like to caution European decision-makers -- adopting broad regulations to ban products from a responsible, sustainable and well-regulated hunt is a slippery slope," he said in a statement.

Dimas said the ban would not cover subsistence hunting by Inuit or hunts that had been proved humane.

"It is very difficult to define what is humane," he said. "Personally, I don't like killing of any kind, but we will follow what science is telling us does not cause unnecessary pain and suffering to animals."

A European Food Safety Authority report last year highlighted various causes of unnecessary suffering, such as trapping seals underwater where they die by drowning.

It recommended that seals first be shot or clubbed and then monitored to check they are dead before being bled and skinned, to ensure they never regain consciousness during the process.

The animal welfare group IFAW welcomed the move, but a spokesman said that anything short of a full ban would be difficult to monitor or enforce.

Canada, Greenland and Namibia account for about 60 percent of the 900,000 seals hunted each year, the rest being killed in Iceland, Norway, Russia, the United States, Sweden, Finland and Britain.

Dimas said about a third of the trade in seal products crossed the 27-state EU en route to their final markets, making EU rules a powerful tool in controlling the trade.

The proposal is likely to get support from EU lawmakers, who have already called for a ban, he added. It will also need the approval of member states before it can become law. (Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Peter Galloway)

EU to ban trade in 'cruelly' obtained seal fur
Bruno Waterfield, The Telegraph 23 Jul 08;

The outcry over horrific images of the clubbing and hunting of seals and their pups is behind new European Union proposals to ban the trade in "cruelly" obtained seal fur.

The move will deal a blow to Canada's centuries-old commercial harp seal hunt, which is worth over GBP16 million in exports. This year 275,000 harp seals were earmarked for slaughter.

Stavros Dimas, European Environment Commissioner, today announced plans EU ban on all seal products coming from countries that "practice cruel hunting methods".

"The images of seal hunting that circulate around the globe every year are a reminder of the oftentimes gruesome practices used to kill seals," he said.

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

None of the 15 seal species that are currently hunted is endangered but politicians across the EU have demanded action over claims that seals, shot or bludgeoned over the head with a spiked club known as a hakapik, are often skinned while still conscious.

Canada is expected to mount a legal world trade challenge to the EU ban after contesting similar legislation in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Loyola Hearn, Canada fisheries minister, has blamed "misinformation from anti-sealing organisations and extremist groups" on European public pressure for a ban.

Canada, Greenland and Namibia account for about 60 per cent of the 900,000 seals hunted each year, the rest are killed in Iceland, Norway, Russia, the United States, Sweden, Finland and Britain.