EU partially suspends ban on seal products

Ban on most seal products takes effect today, but EU court gives Inuit groups extra time to submit a full legal challenge.

The European Union’s highest court has partially suspended an EU ban on the import of seal products in order to allow opponents of the ban to present their case in writing.

The partial suspension of the ban, which came into force today, applies until 7 September and applies only to groups who lodged a case with the European General Court. A number of companies are among the plaintiffs, but the principal challengers are seal hunters from native Inuit communities in Canada, Greenland and Norway.

The ban remains in place for all other hunters and means that almost all seal products are, from today, barred from the EU.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said that an oral hearing, to be held soon after the 7 September deadline, would determine whether the suspension would continue until the full case is heard.

The legislation contains an exemption for products from seals hunted by Inuit, but Inuit groups are nonetheless opposed to the legislation, arguing that it would lead to the collapse of market prices.

Mary Simon, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada’s main Inuit organisation and the lead plaintiff in the court action, welcomed the suspension by Luxembourg-based European General Court.

“Although we are not sure what future action the EU court will take in this case, I welcome the current decision by the court to stop the implementation of the ban as scheduled,” she said in a statement.

“I can only hope that the EU court will determine that the ban and its so-called Inuit exemption are illegal,” she stated.

Simon, who also described the ban as “immoral”, called for the European Parliament, the chief supporter of the ban, “to do the right thing and withdraw its legislation”.

Canada, the country most affected by the ban, is also challenging the ban. Its prime minister, Stephen Harper, announced yesterday that his government would ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) to set up a dispute settlement panel to assess whether the EU’s import ban breaks WTO rules. Canada has already complained to the WTO that the ban violates the EU’s trade obligations.

“This is flagrant discrimination against the Canadian seal industry, against Canadian sealers,” Harper said.

Canada and the EU are conducting talks on a far-reaching free-trade agreement. The next round of negotiations is to take place in October, and agreement appears possible by next year.