The HSUS/Mark Glover

A seal pup in the 2007 hunt.

Each spring, thousands of baby seals are bludgeoned and left to die on the increasingly shrinking ice in Canada. Commercial seal hunts take place in uncontrolled field environments, rendering a humane death for the seals difficult if not impossible. The speed and scale of the hunts are also significant obstacles to effective enforcement of animal welfare legislation. In the past three years alone, nearly 1 million seals have been killed in Canada for their fur, constituting the largest commercial seal hunt in the world. 

In 2007, public outrage over the inherently cruel nature of the commercial seal hunts led both Belgium and the Netherlands to take economic action against this hunt and enact legislation to stop the manufacture, sale, transport, marketing and importation of seal products, including seal furs and nutritional supplements made from seal oil. (The Belgian law applies to all seal products whereas the Dutch ban applies only to hooded and harp seal products.)  Both laws prohibit trade in seal products from any source, although they contain exemptions for traditional seal hunting. Additional factors cited in support of this legislation include public concern over the conservation of seal populations, which are also under threat from loss of habitat due to melting ice. 

Not surprisingly, following enactment of the Belgian and Dutch trade bans on seal products, Canada initiated an action at the World Trade Organization. Canada is alleging that the Dutch and Belgian laws violate certain provisions of the WTO Agreements governing the free flow of goods. While banning trade may in some instances be inconsistent with WTO Agreements, there are exceptions for measures that are necessary to protect human or animal health or public morals, or that relate to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources. HSI fully supports WTO Members’ rights to justify trade measures on these bases. The trade ban on seal products is a perfect example of a justified halt in trade. Read more about HSI’s involvement in WTO matters.

To date, Canada’s complaint before the WTO is only in the early stages, with Canada and the European Commission (representative of Belgium and the Netherlands) engaged in consultations. Should consultations fail to resolve this matter, Canada may request that a dispute-settlement panel be established. Should this happen, HSI plans to defend Belgium and the Netherlands’ right to maintain these trade measures on legal and factual grounds. The seals deserve nothing less.