This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
THE World Trade Organisation (WTO) upheld a European Union ban on the import of seal pelts, oil and meat today.
Canada and Norway had challenged the ban after the EU banned seal products in 2010, saying that seal hunting, which can involve clubbing seals to death, caused unavoidable pain and distress.
Canada and Norway claimed that seal hunting was done in an ethical manner and argued the ruling set a dangerous precedent because trade decisions were being made on the basis of morality rather than science.
But the WTO said that concerns about animal welfare can override commercial interests.
The EU ban contains exceptions for indigenous Inuits and Inuvialuit peoples from the northern Canadian province of Nunavut.
“This is a wonderful day for seals,” said Canadian programmes director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare Sheryl Fink.
“Canada and Norway used every technical argument they could. But reason and compassion have triumphed.”
