Help end the cruel seal product trade – take action now
23 January 2008
Deadline: 13 February 2008
The European Commission is considering a seal-product trade ban that would save millions of seals from a horrible fate.
An online public consultation is now being held to measure international opinion on an EU-wide ban on the trade in seal products. We all need to speak up for the seals – please take a few minutes to fill out the survey, and find out more about what you can do to help save the seals.
The consultation can be viewed here.
For more information about the consultation, facts and figures about the seal hunt and to find out how else you can help seals, visit www.bansealtrade.org.
Not all questions are mandatory. If you only have time to answer one question (aside from your personal details, which you must fill in to participate), please make sure that you answer the final one: “What would you suggest to decision-makers at the European level on possible legislative measures to regulate the placing on the market of seal products?”
Background & current international actions against the seal trade:
In 2006, the Council of Europe passed a recommendation urging its 47 member states to promote initiatives aimed at prohibiting the trade in seal products.
In September 2006, a record 425 members of the European Parliament signed a historic declaration calling upon the European Commission to immediately introduce legislation to prohibit the trade in seal products. The EC then undertook a study of the humane aspects of seal hunting, the results of which could provide the foundation to ban all seal products within the EU.
Its study completed, the EC is now holding a public consultation to measure international opinion on an EU-wide ban on the trade in seal products.
Current international actions against the seal trade:
Countries that have already prohibited the trade in seal products though legislation: United States, Belgium, Netherlands, Mexico, Slovenia, Croatia
Countries that have suspended the trade in seal products through licensing programs: Italy, Luxembourg
Countries whose parliaments have resolved to ban the trade in seal products: Panama, Germany, Australia
Countries that have announced their intention to ban the trade in seal products: France, Italy
Countries that have announced they will press for an EU ban on the trade of seal products: Germany, UK, Netherlands, Italy
Political bodies that have called on governments to ban the trade in seal products: Council of Europe, European Parliament
Countries that have prohibited the commercial hunting of seals: United States, South Africa
Countries that have called on the Canadian government to end the commercial seal hunt: Mexico, United States
Note: In 2007, the Council of Europe passed a resolution calling on nations including Canada to "ban all cruel hunting methods".