EU Committee Endorses Ban on Seal Products; Hunt Is "Inherently Inhumane"

by Stephanie Ernst · 2009-03-02 12:51:00 UTC
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The European Parliament's committee on market and consumer protection today endorsed a bill "that would impose a tight ban on the import of all seal products to the 27-nation bloc."

The bill calls for EU rules "prohibiting the placing on the market and the import to, transit through, or export from" the EU of seal products.

It does, however, grant a "limited" exemption for Inuit communities from Canada and Greenland to continue to trade pelts, oils or meat derived from their seal hunts "for cultural, educational, or ceremonial purposes."

The lawmakers endorsed a plan that branded the hunting of seals, notably in Canada[,] as "inherently inhumane," and called on the EU to answer public demands for a ban on what many animal rights groups have called a senseless slaughter.

To become law, the bill will still need the approval of the entire EU assembly and EU governments, which could come as soon as April.

Read the rest of the Canadian Press article here.

Need more information on the annual, brutal commercial seal hunt in Canada? Check out this informative page, in FAQ style, from Canadian animal rights group Liberation BC. See also Liberation BC's take on PETA's new Olympics-themed campaign against the seal hunt.

Stephanie Ernst wrote the original Animal Rights blog at Change.org until December 2009. She can now be found at Animal Rights & AntiOppression.
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