Canada to appeal seal products ban

OTTAWA, July 27 (UPI) -- Canada plans to appeal a European Union decision to ban the trade of all seal products, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day said Monday.

In an appeal through the World Trade Organization, Canada will ask for an exemption for countries that have sustainable and humane seal hunts, Stockwell said at a news conference in Ottawa.

The EU Parliament voted in May to eliminate seal product imports -- such as pelts, oil and meat -- a ban that would mean a $2.4-million loss for the Canadian industry, Canwest News Service reported.

The hunt is crucial to many small Canadian communities and to northern aboriginal people who have few other economic opportunities, Canadian Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said.

"There is a clear lack of logic in focusing so much attention on this particular industry which ... has been around much longer than any of the very lobbyists who are trying to stop it," Shea said, estimating the Canadian seal population at 5.6 million animals.