14 March 2007 - The EU Commission is refusing to implement MEPs’ wishes and immediately ban the import of seal fur into the EU, said Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas today.

Last year the European Parliament adopted a Written Declaration co-sponsored by Dr Lucas calling for an end to the trade in seal fur and products – by its largest ever majority – but the Commission has said it wants to study the issue further before listening to MEPs.

Dr Lucas, South-East England ’s MEP and a member of the Parliament’s influential Environment Committee, said the planned study was a delaying tactic and demanded the EU respect MEPs’ wishes and ban fur imports immediately.

Speaking ahead of a parliamentary debate on the issue, she said:

"It is hard to understand why the Commission is stalling on the introduction of a ban on the trade of seal fur in the EU. Despite a clear demand from the Parliament last year and a growing number of bans in individual countries, the Commission has failed to commit to proposing an EU-wide ban.

“Instead, it is proposing to carry out a study, at the expense of the EU taxpayer, to establish if a ban is necessary.

“Such a study would take at least a year and only then could a proposal be drafted: meaning the legislative process might not begin until perhaps the beginning of the hunt in 2009 – that’s two years too late for more than 400,000 seals."

A number of EU countries ( Luxembourg , Belgium , the Netherlands and Italy ) have already taken steps to ban the trade in seal products, and the UK has expressed its support for an EU ban.

Dr Lucas added: "Why does the Commission need to waste time and money undertaking a study when there is clear evidence that commercial seal hunting is a brutal and cruel practice, which targets seal pups only a few weeks old?

“Over the past four years over 1.5 million seals have been killed for their fur, almost all (97%) under 3 months of age.

“Delaying the introduction of an EU ban will therefore lead to the unnecessary brutal killing of thousands of seals each year we have to wait. The EU is the largest market for seal fur, so introducing an EU ban on seal products would be a crucial step towards ending this barbaric cull."

ENDS