EU executive moves to limit cruelty of seal hunts

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission adoptedproposals on Wednesday to ban the import of pelts from sealsthat have endured excessive suffering while being killed,risking possible trade conflicts with hunting nations.

While stopping short of calling for a total ban, the EU'sexecutive body said products from the 900,000 seals hunted eachyear should be accepted in the EU only with guarantees that theseal has been killed as humanely as possible.

None of the 15 seal species that are currently hunted isendangered, but European environmentalists and politicians havedemanded action after finding evidence that seals are oftenskinned while still conscious.

Typically, they are first shot or bludgeoned over the headwith a spiked club known as a hakapik.

"European citizens find these practices repugnant,"Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told reporters. "Sealproducts coming from countries which practise hunting methodsthat involve unnecessary pain and suffering must not be allowedto enter the EU."

Last year, Belgium and the Netherlands imposed their ownbans on imports such as seal furs and vitamin products,prompting a trade complaint from Canada on the grounds thattheir accusations of cruelty were unfounded.

Dimas said the ban would not cover subsistence hunting byInuits or hunts that had been proved humane.

"It is very difficult to define what is humane," he said."Personally, I don't like killing of any kind, but we willfollow what science is telling us does not cause unnecessarypain and suffering to animals."

A European Food Safety Authority report last yearhighlighted various causes of unnecessary suffering, such astrapping seals underwater where they die by drowning.

It recommended that seals first be shot or clubbed and thenmonitored to check they are dead before being bled and skinned,to ensure they never regain consciousness during the process.

The animal welfare group IFAW welcomed the move, but aspokesman said that anything short of a full ban would bedifficult to monitor or enforce.

Canada, Greenland and Namibia account for about 60 percentof the 900,000 seals hunted each year, the rest being killed inIceland, Norway, Russia, the United States, Sweden, Finland andBritain.

Dimas said about a third of the trade in seal products madeits way through the 27-state EU en route to their finalmarkets, making EU rules a powerful tool in controlling thetrade.

The proposal is likely to get strong support from EUlawmakers, who have already called for a ban, he added. It willalso need the approval of member states before it can becomelaw.

(Reporting by Pete Harrison; Editing by Catherine Evans)