ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — May 22, 2014 — Canada lost its bid to overturn Europe's ban on imported seal products Thursday but seized on World Trade Organization findings that aspects of the embargo breach international obligations.
A WTO appeal decision released in Geneva upheld a previous ruling that the European Union ban is "necessary to protect public morals" regarding animal welfare.
But the three-member panel agreed with the prior dispute settlement finding that exemptions to the ban have not been fairly applied.
It says the embargo "constitutes a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination," particularly because of how exemptions for seal products from Inuit or indigenous communities are handled.
It finds the EU has not sufficiently shown how its treatment of indigenous versus commercial hunts "can be reconciled with the objective of addressing EU public moral concerns regarding seal welfare."
It also found "considerable ambiguity" in how terms such as "subsistence" are used for Inuit harvests. And it raises concerns that vague criteria could allow seal products from commercial hunts to enter EU markets under indigenous exemptions.
Canada appealed a November ruling that said while the EU seal ban undermines fair trade, those restrictions can be justified on "public moral concerns" for animal welfare.
Read the full story at the Prince George Citizen