[LINK] "Inuit groups sue EU over seal trade ban"

[rfmcdonald]

I'm rather unimpressed. Leaving aside the arrogance of demanding that a trading bloc allow the import of a product its citizens find offensive, the idea of protecting a traditional practice just because its traditional is a perfect example of a tautology. Besides, isn't China supposed to be a promising market?

Inuit groups in Canada and Greenland are taking the European Union to court over its import ban on products derived from the seal hunt.

The lawsuit, announced Wednesday in Ottawa, aims to overturn the ban adopted by 27 European countries last year. The court documents have been filed in the European General Court, the first level of the EU's court system.

The coalition of groups involved in the lawsuit includes the Canadian Inuit organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Greenland and several Inuit individuals from both countries.

"I suppose the best alternative would be for the EU not to have adopted this legislation, but that ship has sailed," Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon told CBC News on Wednesday.

"We are seizing the moment and we've gone to court."

[. . .]

The EU's trade ban includes a partial exemption for seal products from Inuit sealers, but the Inuit groups say the terms of the exemption are not clear.

"It doesn't explain at all what they mean by an exemption," Simon said.

Simon also argued that since Inuit have been hunting seals for food, clothing and trade for many generations, the idea of Europeans banning their product is "cultural bias" at best.