Complaint alleges ban violates trade obligations
The Canadian government will take its case against the EU’s seal ban to the World Trade Organization. Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea says negotiations with EU officials are at an impasse and accuses them of siding with animal rights activists. Canada and the EU have spent a year in a “consultation stage” on the issue for over a year and no progress has been made. In 2009, Europe’s 27 member states voted to band seal products from Canada, after lobbying from celebrities like Brigitte Bardot and Paul McCartney. Canada wants the ban revoked on account of it violating EU trade obligations.