The EU seal ban

In Europe, the main focus of the discussion related to seal management has been on animal welfare aspects of seal hunting practices. In 1983, the European Union (EU) placed a ban on sealskins from certain species of seal pups, and in July 2009 EU nations gave their final approval to a ban on all imports of seal products with the exception of products resulting from hunts traditionally conducted by Inuit peoples living in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia – and which may only be marketed on a not-for-profit basis.

However, Greenland’s Premier Kuupik Kleist and other Inuit leaders criticized the ban for being incompatible with international agreements and human rights17

. The North

Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) stated that the EU import ban on seal products “raises serious concerns for the future of international cooperation on responsible management and the sustainable use of renewable natural resources in general”18

. NAMMCO further argued that all

peoples have the right to use their resources responsibly and sustainably for their economic development, including the right to benefit from international trade. Both Norway and Canada requested WTO dispute settlement consultations following the EU’s decision to ban trade in seal products.

The seal product sales ban was due to come into force on 20 August 2010, but was temporarily suspended by a preliminary ruling the European Court of Justice at the request of Inuit organisations and companies selling seal products19

.

The ban has put the EU application to gain permanent observer status with the Arctic Council at stake. The day before the Council’s Ministerial meeting in April 2009, the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told CBC News: “Canada doesn’t feel that the European Union, at this stage, has the required sensitivity to be able to acknowledge the Arctic Council, as well as its membership, and so therefore I’m opposed to it”20

. The Council concluded

that it would defer a decision on new applicants until its next gathering in 2011.

Inside and outside Europe, the ban was backed by the public through a consultation, in which massive dissatisfaction with current seal hunting practices was revealed. The consultation also discovered a knowledge gap of hunting methods employed, and that respondents were mainly opposed to seal hunting for ethical reasons15

. I

II

Contaminants can have a negative impact on seals’ immune status and their reproduction8

. Another consequence of the bio-

accumulation is that people who eat large quantities of seals and marine mammals have higher levels of POPs and mercury levels than people who do not consume these animals10

.

Large-scale commercial harvests are restricted to harp and hooded seals, except for the hooded seal population in the Jan Mayen area of the Greenland Sea11,12

. Both species faced

. Seal products nowadays also include a significant aphrodisiac trade (particularly for harp seal sex organs), and

RELEVANCE OF MULTI-LATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS

intense commercial hunting in the 19th and 20th centuries, first for oil, and later mainly for the highly prized pelts of pups5,13

67