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Canadian PM denounces EU seal product ban
last update: Aug 20, 2010 09:04 AM
From a "Business Week" Article: Stephen Harper, Canada's Prime Minister denounced the European Union for imposing an import ban on seal products and said the government would seek a special panel review of the ban at the World Trade Organization.
According to Harper, the ban discriminates against Canadian sealers, who are hardworking people of modest means. "This is flagrant discrimination against the Canadian seal industry, against Canadian sealers ... people who are doing animal husbandry, no differently than many other industries," he said after the announcement. Harper called the EU's decision a disgrace, that was not based on rational facts.
The ban was to be implemented Friday but has been suspended because of a European General Court of Justice decision on a challenge launched by a Canadian Inuit group arguing that it threatens their livelihood.
The Canadian government will ask the World Trade Organization this fall to establish a dispute settlement panel that would consider whether the EU ban complies with WTO rules. This comes after Canada already filing a complaint with the WTO arguing the ban, adopted by 27 European countries earlier this year, is a violation of the EU's trade obligations.
The sealing industry on Canada's East Coast has steadily dwindled in recent years amid the global recession, the vocal animal rights protests and the looming European ban. Fewer hunters went out last year because pelt prices bottomed out at $14 compared to more than $100 a skin only a few years ago. A pelt is now valued at around $23-$25.
Read more:
Business Week, 19th August 2010
