Canada to fight Belgian seal ban

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 23, AUGUST 13, 2007
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.

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International Fur News
with Sandy Parker

Canada to fight Belgian seal ban

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT HAS INDICATED IT WILL SEEK FORMAL PROCEDURES through the World Trade Organization (WTO) to address the recent ban by Belgium on the importation and marketing of seal products. This is the second time a fur-related issue is being brought before the international body for adjudication, the first having been the leghold trap dispute which led to the establishment of trap standards. Canada has long been known for its paternalistic attitude toward the trade that is credited with opening up and developing the country, so its decision to fight Belgium’s move comes as no great surprise.

The Belgian parliament voted the ban after attempts to amend it were rejected by the country’s trade minister on the grounds that all seal hunting is ethically unacceptable. Following the parliament’s action last February, the European Commission reiterated its position that there is no conservation concern about harp or hooded seal populations. While the Belgian market for sealskins is insignificant, the Fur Institute of Canada has been arguing that its ban would lead to similar actions by other European governments that are under pressure from the same anti-wildlife-use lobby groups, including Germany, Austria, Britain and France.

THE AVERAGE PRICE OF AMERICAN MINK PELTS PRODUCED IN 2006 and sold at this year’s auctions declined 22% from last year’s record levels, according to data compiled by the U.S. Agriculture Dept.’s statistical service. That crop totaled 2.86 million pelts, an increase of 8% from the previous year, and realized a total of $136 million, compared to $161 million last year. The per skin average (male/female) was $47.50, down from the record $60.90 reached in 2006, but still above the previous year’s average of $47.10. In the past two decades, there have been only seven years in which prices averaged over $35, which ranchers consider break-even.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Canada to Fight Seal Ban
Will Bring Belgium before WTO
U.S. Mink Prices Dropped 22%
Consumer Confidence Up Again
Ken Wagner Succumbs at 86

For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Archive. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.