(AG / 23-08-10)  Sealskin of certain providers can still enter the European Union, despite the ban in force since Friday, due to a legal dispute before the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, which has left partially suspended the application of the new regulation.

Marc Jaeger, The presiding judge of first instance, stopped in the last moment, at the request of 16 applicants, the application of the new rule, which plans the total exclusion of seal goods in European markets.

Among the applicants there are several companies, such as the Canadian group Canadian Seal Marketing based in Quebec, individuals and associations of the Arctic indigenous communities, the Inuit, in Canada and Greenland, according to reports from non-public documents.

According to the European legislation seal goods are not to be imported into Europe but those proceeding from Inuit, who do not hunt seals with commercial purposes. The ban includes many products, among them the skins and oils used in cosmetics and medicine. Sealskins are generally used to make coats and hats.

It is estimated that about 90,000 seals are killed every year. Animals’ skulls are often broken with sticks fitted with punches. According to animal defenders, hunters often do not kill the seals completely and take away the skin while they are still alive.

Seal hunting is widely extended especially in Canada, but also in Greenland and Namibia. Canada had announced in July that they would file a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the European Union ban on imports of seal goods.

A spokesman of the European Commission said in Brussels that although the ban is in force, as agreed, from today, it won’t be applied to the applicants while the lawsuit is not resolved. The EU Government hopes the hearings of the parties to the dispute begin in September. Then the court will decide if the legislation is applied to the plaintiffs.

The Commission highlighted that the law against seal goods is in line with international compromises, but that it preserves the economic and social interests of the Inuit.