Seal hunt advocate takes issue with EU president's claim that Indigenous exemptions are working

The European Union's ban on seal products did not feature heavily — if at all — during discussions between Canadian and European leaders on Friday in St. John's, but one comment made during a news conference has drawn the ire of a group that advocates for seal harvesters.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters she believes the exemption for Indigenous sealers is going well.

The exemption was put in place by the World Trade Organization in 2015, after the EU banned all seal products in 2009.

"I think we found a good balance," von der Leyen said. "As you know, we have a system in place that does not allow in the European Union the placing of seal products on the EU market. However, there are exceptions with regards to seal products deriving from hunts conducted by Inuit and other Indigenous communities who can continue exporting to the European Union markets. And as far as I am informed, the system is working well."

Doug Chiasson, executive director of the Fur Institute of Canada, was taken aback by her comments.

"I would say it's working very effectively at not allowing Indigenous harvested seal products into the European Union," he said. "It's not working very well as an exemption to the EU ban."

Chiasson's group considers itself the national voice for Canada's sealing industry. He said it's become extremely difficult for Indigenous people to get their seal products to European market for a number of reasons.

The biggest issue, according to Chiasson, is that the 2009 ban destroyed the existing market for seal products in Europe. When the Indigenous exemption was introduced in 2015, he said, there was no longer a market for the products.

The second issue is that there are only two governing bodies in the country that can certify a product was harvested by an Indigenous hunter. Those are the territorial governments of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Chiasson said that creates a huge problem for Inuit people in Labrador, since there is no certification body in their region.

The third hurdle is the amount of paperwork required to get their products accepted in Europe. "Real, literal paperwork," Chiasson said, "that has to be hand-filled and hand-signed for sealskins and sealskin products that are going to the European Union from Canada."

He said the exemption required hard work by the federal and territorial governments, as well as Indigenous harvesters and artisans, and has resulted in minimal benefit. 

"We've seen very small numbers of sealskins and sealskin products be exported to the EU under that exemption."

CBC Newfoundland and Labrador asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau if seals were discussed during Friday's Canada-EU summit in St. John's. He didn't directly answer, saying instead, "This is a complex time in the world and there's a lot of subjects to discuss."

Stéphane Dion, Canada's ambassador to France, told reporters the seal hunt was not a priority during the meeting.