Canada daagt EU voor WTO over verbod zeehondenbont Nederland en België (en)
Canada has started a trade dispute with the European Union, saying that Belgian and Dutch bans on seal products are against the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Ottawa on Wednesday (26 September) requested consultations at the Geneva-based WTO with the EU, which is the first stage of a formal dispute.
"These bans have no basis in scientific fact," said spokesman for Canada's minister of international trade, Francois Jubinville, according to Bloomberg.
"We don't believe there is any basis from the point of view of science or conservation to justify banning imports of seal products," he said, adding that Canada exports €12.7 million worth of seal products to the EU every year.
Earlier this year, Belgium became the first EU country to ban trade in seal pelts and the Netherlands is set to follow suit soon.
Italy and Luxembourg have stopped granting licences for trade in seal products, while Austria, France, Germany and the UK are all considering laws or would support EU-wide legislation.
The 27-member EU club already has an import ban on white seal cub furs, which was imposed after actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot campaigned extensively on the issue in the 1980s.
Brussels is "naturally disappointed by this move," the department of EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said in a statement, according to Canadian Press.
It added the EU would defend its member states before the WTO, while continuing to study whether an EU-wide ban on seal products is justified.
European lawmakers have long campaigned for an EU-wide ban on seal products from Canada to protest against what they call the inhuman and barbaric killing methods of seals for their skin only.
The MEPs have suggested that traditional Inuit seal hunting, which only accounts for 3 percent of the current hunt, should not be covered by a potential ban.
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