World Trade Organisation upholds EU ban on imported seal products
Source: The Guardian
World Trade Organisation upholds EU ban on imported seal products
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
theguardian.com, Monday 25 November 2013 17.37 GMT
The World Trade Organisation has upheld a European Union ban on imported seal products, finding it addressed "public moral concerns" about the controversial hunt.
The WTO ruling was claimed as a victory by conservationists and animal welfare activists who have been campaigning for years against such hunts in Canada and Norway.
Monday's ruling did find some flaws in the 2010 ban, but found that: "It fulfils the objective of addressing EU public moral concerns on seal welfare to a certain extent, and no alternative measure was demonstrated to make an equivalent or greater contribution to the fulfilment of the objective."
However, the trade organisation said the exceptions granted under the EU ban were not "even-handed", and would have to be revised.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/25/world-trade-organisation-eu-ban-seal
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