EU bans import of seal products

IN a long-awaited decision that will have significant consequences for hunters in Namibia and Canada, the European Union yesterday moved to ban imports of products derived from seals that are inhumanely killed.

Seal products from countries that “practise hunting methods that involve unnecessary pain” will not be allowed into the 27-nation bloc, if the measures receive final approval from the EU’s executive and legislative branches, EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement, as the European Commission announced the proposal yesterday. Dimas said the rules will make special allowances for products from traditional Inuit sealers.The EU has been under increased pressure from animal rights groups and legislators at the European parliament to take action over the seal hunt, which they claim is cruel and should be stopped.Some campaigners were calling for a total ban on seal-product imports from Canada and other countries that have annual seal culls like Namibia.The decision to only block inhumanely obtained seal products leaves the door open for sealers to export to Europe, but with stricter conditions.A report last year from the European Food Safety Authority hinted at what the EU might consider to be humane sealing methods, suggesting that it would involve, as a minimum, shooting or clubbing seals first and then checking to ensure they’re dead before bleeding and skinning them.In Namibia about 70 000 seal pups and 5 000 bulls are clubbed to death each year.CBC NewsDimas said the rules will make special allowances for products from traditional Inuit sealers.The EU has been under increased pressure from animal rights groups and legislators at the European parliament to take action over the seal hunt, which they claim is cruel and should be stopped.Some campaigners were calling for a total ban on seal-product imports from Canada and other countries that have annual seal culls like Namibia.The decision to only block inhumanely obtained seal products leaves the door open for sealers to export to Europe, but with stricter conditions.A report last year from the European Food Safety Authority hinted at what the EU might consider to be humane sealing methods, suggesting that it would involve, as a minimum, shooting or clubbing seals first and then checking to ensure they’re dead before bleeding and skinning them.In Namibia about 70 000 seal pups and 5 000 bulls are clubbed to death each year.CBC News