Post by FWS on Mar 2, 2009 19:38:02 GMT -6
This is bad news, expect a similar move on other wild fur. Again.
EU parliament backs seal products ban
The Parliament.com
Mon 2nd Mar 2009
MEPs on parliament's internal market committee have voted in favour of a complete ban on the commercial trade and importation into the EU of seal products.
The committee voted on Monday by 25 votes to seven in favour of a ban. In doing so, they also rejected calls for a labelling regime which had been proposed by UK Liberal MEP Diana Wallis.
This would have restricted the controversial trade to goods that can be labelled as 'seal-friendly.'
Wallis, who is drafting parliament's response to a commission proposal on the issue, insisted that a "robust" labelling scheme would enable consumers to know if a seal product met environmental protection standards.
But her proposal was comprehensively voted down by committee colleagues.
The move came despite her telling committee members before the vote that the council's legal service had warned that an outright ban could run into serious legal problems.
The vote comes in the wake of a high-profile lobbying campaign for a ban on the marketing of seal products by the International Fund for Animal Welfare campaign group.
After the first reading vote, Mark Glover, of another animal welfare group, the Humane Society International, greeted the outcome with "huge satisfaction."
He said, "I am delighted. This is a major step towards what many people have been working for many,many years."
Wallis, however, said, "In light of this vote we need to be certain about the legalities involved here. We need something that will work both in legal and practical terms. I am aware of the strong feelings felt by some members and others on this issue but I thought a labelling scheme was the best solution and best reflected the legal position."
She told the meeting that the council had questioned whether a ban was compatible with internal market rules and whether it had any legal base.
"I am not at all sure that a ban will produce the desired results that people want and that next year we will be seeing exactly the same scenes (of the aftermath of seals clubbed to death) on their TV screens that they are seeing now."
Dutch MEP Toine Manders told the committee meeting, however, that those countries such as his own where a ban is already in place had faced no such legal challenges.
Today's vote in parliament will determine the parameters of the final legislation but still needs to be rubberstamped by the full plenary next month.
Before the vote, IFAW had said labelling and certification is fraught with problems. "In practice, it would be impossible to enforce. You can't verify whether a seal product really comes from a seal that was humanely killed," said an IFAW source.
The commission's proposed legislation on the emotionally-charged issue aims to harmonize a patchwork of laws among several member countries, some of whom, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, already ban the trade in seal products.
The draft law would allow the import of seal products, including skin, meat, fat and oils, from countries that can guarantee their hunting practices are "consistent with high animal-welfare standards" and that the animals are killed swiftly without undue suffering. Special exemptions would be allowed for Canada's Inuit.
It is claimed that any import ban could deliver a devastating blow to Atlantic Canadian fishermen who rely on the annual hunt as a source of income, shutting down critical shipment points including Holland and Germany.
Canadian politicians recently met with their European counterparts in an effort to convince them that the commercial harp seal hunt is humane.
Canada's largest markets for seal products, such as Russia, China and Norway, are outside the EU. But sealing industry experts fear a ban would curb the demand for seal fur from the fashion industry and disrupt shipping routes.
EU parliament backs seal products ban
The Parliament.com
Mon 2nd Mar 2009
MEPs on parliament's internal market committee have voted in favour of a complete ban on the commercial trade and importation into the EU of seal products.
The committee voted on Monday by 25 votes to seven in favour of a ban. In doing so, they also rejected calls for a labelling regime which had been proposed by UK Liberal MEP Diana Wallis.
This would have restricted the controversial trade to goods that can be labelled as 'seal-friendly.'
Wallis, who is drafting parliament's response to a commission proposal on the issue, insisted that a "robust" labelling scheme would enable consumers to know if a seal product met environmental protection standards.
But her proposal was comprehensively voted down by committee colleagues.
The move came despite her telling committee members before the vote that the council's legal service had warned that an outright ban could run into serious legal problems.
The vote comes in the wake of a high-profile lobbying campaign for a ban on the marketing of seal products by the International Fund for Animal Welfare campaign group.
After the first reading vote, Mark Glover, of another animal welfare group, the Humane Society International, greeted the outcome with "huge satisfaction."
He said, "I am delighted. This is a major step towards what many people have been working for many,many years."
Wallis, however, said, "In light of this vote we need to be certain about the legalities involved here. We need something that will work both in legal and practical terms. I am aware of the strong feelings felt by some members and others on this issue but I thought a labelling scheme was the best solution and best reflected the legal position."
She told the meeting that the council had questioned whether a ban was compatible with internal market rules and whether it had any legal base.
"I am not at all sure that a ban will produce the desired results that people want and that next year we will be seeing exactly the same scenes (of the aftermath of seals clubbed to death) on their TV screens that they are seeing now."
Dutch MEP Toine Manders told the committee meeting, however, that those countries such as his own where a ban is already in place had faced no such legal challenges.
Today's vote in parliament will determine the parameters of the final legislation but still needs to be rubberstamped by the full plenary next month.
Before the vote, IFAW had said labelling and certification is fraught with problems. "In practice, it would be impossible to enforce. You can't verify whether a seal product really comes from a seal that was humanely killed," said an IFAW source.
The commission's proposed legislation on the emotionally-charged issue aims to harmonize a patchwork of laws among several member countries, some of whom, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, already ban the trade in seal products.
The draft law would allow the import of seal products, including skin, meat, fat and oils, from countries that can guarantee their hunting practices are "consistent with high animal-welfare standards" and that the animals are killed swiftly without undue suffering. Special exemptions would be allowed for Canada's Inuit.
It is claimed that any import ban could deliver a devastating blow to Atlantic Canadian fishermen who rely on the annual hunt as a source of income, shutting down critical shipment points including Holland and Germany.
Canadian politicians recently met with their European counterparts in an effort to convince them that the commercial harp seal hunt is humane.
Canada's largest markets for seal products, such as Russia, China and Norway, are outside the EU. But sealing industry experts fear a ban would curb the demand for seal fur from the fashion industry and disrupt shipping routes.
