Brussels, 27/01/2014 (Agence Europe) -On 27 January, Ottawa and Oslo appealed against the verdict of the WTO on the European embargo on seal products.
This special WTO group, which was set in place at the request of Canada and Norway to settle their complaint against the ban on the import and sales of seal products within the EU (DS 400 and DS 401), ruled on 25 November that this embargo does contravene fair trade, but that these restrictions are justified on the grounds of “public moral concerns” concerning animal welfare (see EUROPE 10971). The EU's ban, which was adopted in 2010, was introduced because of the inhuman and cruel way in which seals are killed. The Commission is also planning to appeal against the WTO verdict itself, in order to tighten up certain aspects of it in favour of the EU. The European Executive has five days to make its decision.
The text objected to by Ottawa and Oslo is Regulation 1007/2009/EC, in place since August 2010 to impose a total ban on the import and sale of seal products, with a single derogation for sales of products from traditional hunting practised by indigenous communities for subsistence purposes. (EH/transl.fl)