AWESOME NEWS!!! EU nations agree ban on seal products

April 27, 2009

YES, FINALLY!!!!!

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24373897.htm

* EU nations agree ban on seal productsBy Pete Harrison

BRUSSELS, April 24 (Reuters) - European ambassadors approved a European Union plan to ban imports of furs and other products from culled seals on Friday, moving the 27-nation bloc one step closer to a trade clash with Norway and Canada.Both seal-hunting nations have warned the EU in recent weeksthat they could challenge the EU ban at the World TradeOrganisation, the global trade watchdog, if it takes shape ascurrently foreseen.

"Nothing should now stand in the way of this ban beingadopted," said an official from the EU's Czech presidency, whichbrokered a deal this week that will exclude hunts by Inuits."It needs to go before the European Parliament in May, butthat should be a formality because parliament negotiators havealready agreed to it informally," the official added.

Canada, Greenland and Namibia account for around 60 percentof the 900,000 seals hunted each year. The rest are killed inIceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Britain and the United States.Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere wrote to EUtrade Commissioner Catherine Ashton this month arguing that theban broke the principle of free trade and set a dangerousprecedent on the harvesting of renewable resources.

An official said the Commission believed the plan was"legally sound".

The 15 seal species now hunted are not endangered butEuropean politicians demanded action after finding what theysaid was evidence that many are skinned while still conscious.The animals are usually first shot or bludgeoned over thehead with a spiked club known as a hakapik.

Russia banned the hunting of baby harp seals last month, andPrime Minister Vladimir Putin called it a "bloody industry".

A European Food Safety Authority report last yearhighlighted various causes of unnecessary suffering, such astrapping seals underwater where they drown.

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