Dimas to risk trade battle with ban on seal products

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is to propose a ban on trade in sealskin, following pressure from environmental groups and MEPs.

Dimas told European Voice that he would this year be proposing a ban on the import and sale of seal products in the EU.

Most seal products on the EU market are sealskins and furs. Seal meat is also available, and seal oil can be bought as a dietary supplement.

Dimas’s spokeswoman said no date had been fixed for a proposal, but added that the commissioner was committed to taking action as soon as possible.

Almost 400 MEPs signed a declaration last September calling for an end to the trade in seal products. Italy has implemented a temporary ban on such trade. Belgium and the Netherlands last year proposed permanent bans.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) conservation group said an EU-wide ban would be welcome as a step towards an international ban on seal-hunting.

"It would demonstrate that Europe is aware of its global responsibility for the protection of the environment and the welfare of animals," said Günther Pauls of IFAW.

According to IFAW, most seal products on the EU market come from animals killed in Canada and processed in Norway.

An official from Norway’s mission to the EU said a seal ban would undermine Norwegian investments and ignored the reality of seal-hunting.

"As far as we can see [the EU has] not justified this idea with any objective reasons," he said. "This is just fear based on sentimentality…the killing methods are the most humane in the world - certainly much more so than what goes on in EU slaughterhouses."

He warned Dimas against taking action without considering the consequences: "If an EU ban goes ahead we will of course bring a case to the World Trade Organization."

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is to propose a ban on trade in sealskin, following pressure from environmental groups and MEPs.