Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 on trade in seal products

Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on trade in seal products sets out a general ban on placing of these products on the Union's market (“Basic Regulation”). The Basic Regulation contains an exception from the general ban for seal products derived from hunts traditionally conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities that contribute to their subsistence ("the IC exception"). It also contains exceptions for the import of seal products derived from seals hunted for the sole purpose of the sustainable management of marine resources on a not-for profit basis and not for commercial reasons ("the MRM exception") as well as for imports of an occasional nature and which consist exclusively of goods for the personal use of travellers or their families. An Implementing Regulation, Commission Regulation (EU) No 737/2010 of 10 August 2010, lays down detailed rules for the implementation of the Basic Regulation (“Implementing Regulation”).

Both acts (“the EU seal regime”) were challenged by Canada and Norway in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the dispute on EC – Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products (DS400 and DS401). On 18 June 2014, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) adopted the panel and Appellate Body reports. While the WTO reports concluded that the ban on seal products can, in principle, be justified for moral concerns regarding the welfare of seals, they took issue with the two exceptions, the IC exception and the MRM exception. The MRM exception was found not to be justified as the possible difference in the commercial dimension of commercial hunts and MRM hunts (small scale, non-profit) was not sufficient to justify the distinction. With regard to the IC exception, while in principle reflecting a legitimate distinction, the Appellate body ruled, that some elements of its design and application amounted to “arbitrary and unjustifiable discrimination”.

On 10 July 2014 the European Union notified the DSB that it intends to implement the recommendations and rulings of the DSB in this dispute in a manner that respects its WTO obligations. On 5 September 2014, the European Union, Canada and Norway agreed that the reasonable period for implementing the DSB recommendations and rulings would be 16 months. Accordingly, the reasonable period of time will expire on 18 October 2015.

The purpose of this legislative proposal is to implement the DSB recommendations and rulings with regard to the Basic Regulation. It also creates the legal basis for bringing Regulation (EU) No 737/2010 in compliance with the said rulings. The concerns regarding the MRM exception are remedied by removing the MRM exception from the Basic Regulation. The concerns relating to the design and application of the IC exception are addressed by modifying the exception, in particular by linking its use to the respect of animal welfare and providing for a limit to the placing of the market of seal products if the scale of the hunt or other circumstances are such as to indicate that the hunt is being conducted primarily for commercial purposes. In addition, experts from the Commission are working together with experts from Canada in order to set up the necessary attestation system to enable Canadian Inuit to make use of the Inuit exception under the EU seal regime.

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)45: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:045:FIN

ESO: Background information: WTO confirms EU seal trade ban http://www.europeansources.info/record/wto-confirms-eu-seal-trade-ban/

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