Regulation 2015/1775 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 on trade in seal products - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 262/1

Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) was adopted with the objective of eliminating obstacles to the functioning of the internal market due to differences in national measures regulating trade in seal products. Those measures were adopted in response to public moral concerns about the animal welfare aspects of the killing of seals and the possible presence on the Union market of products obtained from seals killed in a way that causes excessive pain, distress, fear and other forms of suffering. Such concerns were supported by evidence showing that a genuinely humane killing method cannot be consistently and effectively applied and enforced in the specific conditions in which seal hunting takes place. In order to achieve that objective, Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 introduced, as a general rule, a prohibition on the placing on the market of seal products.

At the same time, seal hunting is an integral part of the socio-economy, nutrition, culture and identity of the Inuit and other indigenous communities, making a major contribution to their subsistence and development, providing food and income to support the life and sustainable livelihood of the community, preserving and continuing the traditional existence of the community. For those reasons, seal hunts traditionally conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities do not raise the same public moral concerns as seal hunts conducted primarily for commercial reasons. Moreover, it is broadly recognised that the fundamental, economic and social interests of Inuit and other indigenous communities should not be adversely affected, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted on 13 September 2007 and other relevant international instruments. In addition, three Member States (Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain) have ratified the Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (Convention No 169), adopted on 27 June 1989 by the International Labour Organisation (4). For those reasons, by way of exception, Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 allows the placing on the market of seal products which result from hunts traditionally conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities for their subsistence and which contribute to such subsistence.

In the light of the objective pursued by Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009, the placing on the Union market of seal products resulting from hunts conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities should be made conditional upon those hunts being conducted with due regard to animal welfare in a manner which reduces pain, distress, fear or other forms of suffering experienced by the animals hunted to the extent possible, while taking into consideration the way of life of the Inuit and other indigenous communities and the subsistence purpose of the hunt. Therefore, the exception granted in respect of seal products resulting from hunts conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities should be limited to hunts that contribute to the subsistence of those...