The EU has been instructed by WTO judges to bring its Seal Regime in line with certain aspects of international trade law. This article reflects on what Brussels’ next move might be. The WTO Appellate Body in May upheld an earlier dispute settlement panel verdict that the EU’s import ban on seal products on the grounds of public morals related to animal welfare concerns could be justified under Article XX(a) of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994), in other words, as necessary to protect public morals. The WTO’s highest court also said that, under the “chapeau” of the same article, the EU Seal Regime was applied in a way that effectively constituted arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where the same conditions existed and therefore struck down the ban, sending Brussels away to do its homework. This was particularly the result of a series of carve-outs built into the regulation and one granted to Inuit or other indigenous communities (IC exception) proved especially problematic. The Appellate Body explained that Brussels had failed to demonstrate how alternative treatment for seal products stemming from IC hunts – versus those harvested by “commercial hunts” – could be reconciled with...
Written by Pieter Leenknegt
