Seal Products—False Labelling and Marketing in the EU
2nd April 2009
An investigation into the retail of seal products in four EU Member States—Greece, Lithuania, Finland and Estonia—found there is clear evidence that seal products are on sale right now in the EU and that they cannot be distinguished from like products. Furthermore, consumers are buying these items without realising they are made from cruel seal slaughters.
Council Legal Services has argued that there is no evidence of the "existence of a market of which the market of seal products forms part and the functioning of which would be improved by the imposition of a ban on seal products as envisaged in the proposal."1
An investigation commissioned by Humane Society International (HSI) shows this is clearly not the case. In addition, one can reference the following documents: Kate Cook Seals EC Regulation Advice and L.Kraemer-advice-A.95&133 for analyses of the legal basis for an import ban.
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| Seal fur on jacket, described as "mink." © HSI |
The main products from seals include seal fur (often dyed), seal leather and seal oil. Since these are often hard to differentiate from like products, they can be confused with non-seal products.
For example:
Seal fur is used for a variety of purposes, including garments and trim. Seal fur is manipulated through a host of processes, including dyeing and shaving, often rendering the final products indistinguishable from other fur products.
Seal leather is used for products such as fashion garments, shoes, accessories and even furniture coverings. Consumers cannot tell seal leather from other leathers.
Seal oil is sold in the European Union in the form of industrial lubricants, animal and pet feed additives and supplements for human consumption. When sold in capsule form for human consumption, seal oil can be labelled as "marine oil" or simply as "omega 3." This could lead to general confusion in the marketplace, and the possibility that some consumers may avoid all "marine oil" or "omega 3" supplements to ensure they are not consuming seal oil.
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| This is a seal fur purse, but the label does not specify what type of fur it was made from. © HSI |
Details of the Investigation
This investigation was done on behalf of HSI by Ecostorm, an international investigative agency based in the United Kingdom.
Conducted in March 2009, it found concrete evidence that retailers in Europe are actively misrepresenting seal products to unsuspecting consumers.
Fur and other retailers were visited in the four target countries.
Results
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Seal fur was found on sale in all four countries—some with no labels.
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Dyed seal fur was passed off as mink fur by shop assistants who knew it to be seal.
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Dyed seal fur products on sale in Lithuania were labelled simply “natural fur.”
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In Greece, only one of the five shops visited mentioned on its labels that its products were made of sealskin.
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Dyed black men's coats made of sealskin were found. The label said in Greek that it was made of sealskin and the shop assistant said it was “sea cat, from Greenland.”
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| Seal fur hat, labelled only as "natural fur." © HSI |
Conclusion
The investigators found examples where the lack of adequate labelling (or complete absence of labels) failed to provide consumers with the necessary information on the animal species from which the fur products were derived. Such lack of product labels means that consumers may be buying sealskin products inadvertently, or could be choosing to avoid like products to ensure that they are not consuming seal products.
Given that the research covered only four of the 27 member states over a short period, it may be posited that the evidence collected during this investigation represents the tip of the iceberg and that it is reasonable to assume that seal products may also be being similarly misrepresented to consumers elsewhere within the Community.
1 Legal opinion, 18th February 2009.
