RICHARD CORBETT
Today @ 08:01 CET
COMMENT / EUOBSERVER - Some 26 years ago, the European Community
banned the import of fur from baby harp and hooded seals, thanks to
the European Parliament responding to public outcry over the clubbing
to death of tens of thousands of the creatures on the ice floes off
the east coast of Canada each spring.
Today, the Canadian seal hunt is worse than ever. It remains the
largest slaughter of marine mammals anywhere on the planet. Far more
animals are being killed than prior to the European ban and many of
the products of this carnage are still coming to Europe.
The original ban only applied to 'white-coat' harp seal and 'blue-
back' hooded seal fur. But harp seals - the main target of the hunt -
begin to moult their white coats at around two weeks old, so the
sealers wait a few days before killing and skinning the seals to
cynically get around the ban.
With another seal hunt due to start in Canada, Europe has an historic
opportunity to close this loophole and bring in a comprehensive ban on
the import and trade in all seal products once and for all.
This is not without precedent. The US banned all seal imports back in
1972 and, within the EU, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Italy,
and Germany already have in place or are about to implement national
bans. It is these European bans that form the basis of the draft
legislation that MEPs now have before them. Moreover, last year the EU
banned the import of dog and cat fur.
The European Commission's draft proposal is in response to a request
made for an EU-wide ban on seal products that was signed by a record
425 MEPs in 2006.
The commission, has tried to satisfy all interests including,
regrettably, the sealers, by including an exemption that would allow
seal imports to continue from countries that meet criteria for 'humane
killing' of seals. This is fundamentally flawed.
Commercial sealing is inherently inhumane and decades of tinkering
with legislation by Canada has made little difference as animal
welfare organisations in Canada itself, which support a ban, have told
us.
The Canadian seal hunt takes place in a remote area the size of
France, involves more than 1,000 small boats over a period of just a
few days. Sealers race to kill as many seals as possible before the
quota is met, and government officials are incapable of monitoring
what is happening in any meaningful fashion. Canada intends to bring
in more rules in another cynical attempt to evade trade sanctions.
Despite the broad swathe of cross-party political support in favour of
a ban within the European Parliament, some appear to have been taken
in by lobbying by the Canadian government.
Indeed, Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis, as parliament's rapporteur,
proposed a labelling system for seal products. Thankfully, her report
was amended in committee to include a ban, with an exemption for Inuit
communities who have used seals for subsistence for generations.
Although this was a great result for those who want this barbaric
practice to be outlawed, the pro-hunting lobby remains strong and we
must be vigilant when this report comes before plenary.
The concept of a labelling system is not only unworkable, but
fundamentally flawed. Since there is no way to kill seals 'humanely',
and grave difficulty monitoring a hunt that amounts to little more
than a week long killing frenzy, such an approach is a confusing fudge.
Supporters of a labelling system claim that they are protecting the
Inuit peoples, ignoring the fact that the proposed legislation anyway
states that they are automatically excluded from the scope of the
proposal. The reality is that a labelling scheme would achieve little
other than to allow the continued trade in products that most people
want eliminated from the marketplace.
Being British, Ms Wallis might be interested in an early-day motion
currently before the UK House of Commons, signed by more than 100 MPs,
including a number of her Liberal Democrat colleagues. It "calls on
the government to do all in its power, and in particular encourage our
78 MEPs. to support this approach, to ensure that a complete EU ban
comes into force as soon as possible".
Until such a ban is in place we, in Europe, have the blood of those
seals on our hands as it is the trade in products that fuels the
carnage. As we approach yet another mass slaughter of seals we must
have the courage of our convictions and ensure that the large majority
in committee is replicated when this report goes before plenary next
month to deliver a full ban on commercial seal products before the
June elections.
Instead of giving in to a cop-out labelling system, we must take this
historic opportunity to end once and for all this trade in animal
cruelty.
The author is a UK Labour member of the European Parliament for
Yorkshire and the Humber