SEALING, ANIMAL WELFARE AND TRADE LAW: A SUMMARY

Introduction As of 1 April 2017, trade in commercial seal products will be banned in Switzerland, making it the 35th country to put restrictions of this nature in place.2 This article looks at the animal welfare concerns related to seal hunting, outlines the various legal measures which have been taken to restrict the trade in seal products in different countries, and, finally, considers how commercial seal hunting has been affected by these laws.


Introduction
As of 1 April 2017, trade in commercial seal products will be banned in Switzerland, making it the 35th country to put restrictions of this nature in place. 2 This article looks at the animal welfare concerns related to seal hunting, outlines the various legal measures which have been taken to restrict the trade in seal products in different countries, and, finally, considers how commercial seal hunting has been affected by these laws.

Seal Hunting and Animal Welfare
Seals are hunted primarily for their fur and, as a result, it is mostly baby seals that are targeted.However, there is also a smaller market for seal meat, seal omega 3 oil, and seal products which are marketed as aphrodisiacs.
It is clear from the above description that at least two of the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare6 , namely, freedom from pain, injury and disease, and freedom from distress are frequently breached during seal hunts and this is evidenced by the fact that veterinary reports consistently reveal high levels of animal suffering in commercial sealing. 7Furthermore, the suffering endured by seals, while they are being killed, would not be permitted under the legislation governing the slaughter of domesticated animals in many developed countries. 8

Seal Products and the Law
In 1972, the United States of America banned the taking and importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products 9 , other than by way of special permit 10 , under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 11This ban was enacted primarily for conservation reasons. 12In 2006, Mexico prohibited the import and export of marine mammals and marine mammal products 13 .The principal motive for this prohibition was to counteract the rapid growth of the dolphin captivity industry there. 14wever, it was in Europe, that countries began to implement national bans on the trade of seal products, specifically due to public moral concerns about animal welfare aspects of seal hunting. 15This culminated in the introduction of the EU seal regime in 2009 16 which introduced a general ban on the placing of seal products on the EU market for the very same reason.The regime does, however, contain exemptions for products emanating from indigenous community hunts and products obtained by travellers for personal use.This ban is particularly noteworthy as it was the subject of proceedings taken by Canada 17 and Norway 18 before the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Panel.While the EU was obliged, as a result of these proceedings, to make changes to the indigenous exemption, so that Greenland natives were not favoured over those from other countries, it was held, for the first time, that animal welfare-related trade restrictions may be justified under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, with the objective of protecting public morals. 19It should be noted that one of the principal reasons why it was considered that restrictions might be justified in this case was the fact there were no internationally agreed standards as to how a seal hunt might be carried out. 20 2011, the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation banned the import and export of harp seal skins. 21This prohibition was also highly significant as Russia had received up to 90% of Canada's exports of seal pelts 22 ; Canada's annual commercial seal hunt being the largest slaughter of marine mammals on the planet. 23It would appear that the ban was motivated by animal welfare concerns as Russia had previously banned the hunting of baby harp seals within its own territory in 2009 with prime minister Vladimir Putin reportedly describing it as a "bloody industry". 24re recently, in 2013, Taiwan amended its Wildlife Conservation Act to to prohibit the import, export and sale of marine mammals and their products without special permits from the governing agency. 25However, it includes an exemption for products derived from aboriginal seal hunting. 26This amendment was enacted due to the fact that Taiwan had become the third largest Asian consumer and the fourth in the world in terms of the consumption volume of marine mammals and their products, as people believed in the special medical or health effects of the products.
Taiwanese lawmakers were concerned that this habit had helped cause the rising volume of cruelly slaughtered marine mammals. 27nally, in Switzerland, a ban on the importation of seal products is due to come into effect on 1st April 2017.This ban will contain exemptions in respect of indigenous hunt seal products and products obtained by travellers for personal use, similar to those exemptions in the EU seal regime. 28The origin of the ban goes back to 2011, when a petition with almost 100,000 signatures demanding a prohibition on the importation of seal products, was submitted to the Swiss Parliament and a parliamentary motion was subsequently accepted by the National Council in 2012.However, the ban was not approved by the Council of States until after the WTO appellate body had issued its decision in 2014, in respect of the EU Seals Regime dispute.It was finally approved and adopted by the National Council after differences were settled. 29While Swiss imports of seal products were already minimal 30 , this new law, nevertheless, is bad news for a sealing industry in search of new markets to replace those countries where bans are in place.

What now for seal hunting?
Commercial seal hunts still take place in Canada, Namibia and Greenland.They no longer occur in Norway, a party to the aforementioned WTO dispute; reportedly due to a combination of the effects of global warming, the withdrawal of a government subsidy, and years of environmental opposition. 31Meanwhile, from 1st April 2017, a total of 35 countries will have restrictions on the sale of seal products.Have these restrictions affected commercial sealing in any meaningful way?
In Canada, following the introduction of the EU Seals Regime, the number of seals killed in Atlantic Canada fell from 218,000 to 76,000. 32In 2016, and with further countries having imposed restrictions, 66,504 seals were killed by the Canadian hunt. 33 Namibia it also appears that the number of seals being killed is decreasing.In 2013, 51,464 seal pups were killed, falling well short of the annual quota of 80,000.
The government blamed this drop on a lack of up-to-date processing facilities. 34A spokesperson for the International Fund for Animal welfare, however, stated that the reduction demonstrated the lack of markets and lack of demand for seal products. 35In 2014, approximately 26,000 seal pups were killed in Namibia and a government spokesperson described this decrease as a natural fluctuation due to the fact that seals are wild animals and live close to the water. 36At the end of 2015, however, plans were announced to open a new seal-processing factory 37 ; an indication of a belief amongst some in Namibia that sealing is not in terminal decline.
Seal hunting in Greenland is primarily conducted by the Inuit 38 and, as such, the indigenous communities exemption contained in the EU Seals Regime and in the laws of a number of other countries may be availed of.However, Hans Stielstra, head of international environmental issues at the European Commission stated in 2015 that the general ban has destroyed the market in the EU.Since that ban was instituted in 2009, Greenlandic exports of seal pelts have plummeted by 90%. 39 does seem that current restrictions have contributed to a significant reduction in the number of seals being killed by commercial hunts.Is it likely, however, that new markets could be found for seal products?China would appear to be seen by the Canadian government and many involved in the sealing industry as the last hope for the trade in seal products.To this end, since 2013, the Canadian government has invested more than US$2 million in grants and financing to develop, process and market seal products for sale in China. 40However, as of early 2017, the Chinese market still remained quite small 41 and there is a growing movement in China pushing the government to introduce a ban on commercial seal products. 42Much will depend on how the situation plays out in China; at the end of 2016, the Chinese government announced that it would be banning the trade in ivory 43 , so it is certainly possible that they would contemplate restricting the trade in seal products.
Other factors could also come into play as regards the continuation of commercial seal hunting.The Canadian government subsidises the seal hunting industry, even though polls have consistently shown that most Canadians oppose commercial seal slaughter and the use of government money to support it. 44Furthermore, a poll taken in 2010 showed that half of Newfoundland sealers supported a federal sealing industry buyout. 45Such a buyout could feasibly occur, therefore, but it would, of course, depend on certain political factors.In Namibia, meanwhile, a report has suggested that seal watching could generate considerably more revenue and benefit a greater number of Namibians than seal hunting, but that the latter industry could risk the viability of the former. 46It remains to be seen whether the Namibian government will ever reject seal hunting in favour of seal watching.Finally, in Greenland, sealing is heavily subsidised by the government there. 47Greenland, in turn, is dependant on an annual grant from Denmark.The Greenlandic government is of the view that mineral resource projects are necessary for progressing towards sustainable economy.If developments were made in this area, sustaining the sealing industry might become less of a priority for the government. 48onclusionIt is clear that seal hunting can be cruel and cause suffering to seals who are being hunted.Many countries have responded to this cruelty by restricting the trade in seal products within their boundaries.A total of 35 countries now operate such restrictions.There seems little doubt that the sealing industry has been badly hit by these bans.The Chinese market could yet come to the rescue of seal hunters but it also has the potential to deal a severe blow to their activities by banning the trade in seal products.The possibility also remains that commercial seal hunting could be rendered obsolete by other economic factors.Only time will tell -the fate of the industry is not yet sealed.48'Greenland: Mining the Future'.New European Economy, 5 May 2015.http://neweuropeaneconomy.com/fdi/greenland-mining-the-future/.