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Sunday 05.02.2012

EU will defend the ban at the WTO

The European Union said Tuesday it will defend its ban on seal products based on scientific evidence and legislative guidelines that should withstand Canada's challenge of the ban at the World Trade Organization.

The European Union said Tuesday it will defend its ban on seal products based on scientific evidence and legislative guidelines that should withstand Canada's challenge of the ban at the World Trade Organization.

EU officials said they are confident the 27-nation bloc's decision to ban the import of seal products will withstand the WTO challenge Canada announced it would launch on Monday.

"We have checked the WTO legislation, and we are confident that the legislation is in conformity with WTO regulations," said EU spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich.

The legislation is not protectionist or discriminatory because it applies to all seal products whether they are from Canada or not, European Commission spokesperson Lutz Gullner told Agence France-Presse.

"If others choose to challenge it in the WTO, then the European Commission will vigorously defend it," he said.

Giovanni Di Girolamo, the European Commission's representative in Canada, said most Europeans feel the hunt is inhumane.

"People feel this hunting is not necessary," Di Girolamo told CBC News. "This kind of product derived from hunting, from animals — they don't want, in the end, for it to be sold in the Union."

"It is, in our view, inappropriate that a trade decision is taken which is not based on science," Day said.

The EU ban should include an exemption for countries that humanely harvest seal products, Day said. WTO consultations are expected to last for 60 days, after which Canada will launch an official appeal if no agreement is reached.