Seals, Stigma and Survival

This piece briefly examines the question: Is the Inuit Exception fit for purpose?

What is the Inuit Exception?

The Inuit Exception was adopted in 2015. The exception stemmed from the initial Regulation on Trade in Seal Products (Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009) implemented in 2009 with the intent to be a total ban on the trade in seal products within the EU. The EU did later make a modification for Greenland in 2013 on the basis of Indigenous traditional hunting. However, Canada and Norway took the EU to the World Trade Organisation over the legality of the ban. While Canada and Norway ultimately lost its dispute, the EU was compelled to make some modification, the key part of which was the implementation of the Inuit Exception as it was found that the EU was giving favourable treatment to Greenlandic Indigenous hunters over Inuit/Indigenous hunts from Canada. Specifically the final ruling on May 22^nd, 2014:

accepted that the ban pursues a legitimate objective (public moral concerns on seal welfare) and is not more trade restrictive than necessary. However, the Appellate Body found that there was a de facto violation of the most-favoured nation treatment obligation (Article I GATT) because seal products from Greenland were treated more favourably than seal products from Canada through the exception for products derived from Inuit hunts. It found that this difference in treatment could in principle be justified under the exception of GATT (Article XX) for public morals but found that the EU had failed to design the legislation to prevent arbitrary discrimination and should have made more efforts to encourage Canadian Inuit to use the exception.

To obtain an exception, an Indigenous body must apply to the EU for this status, and follow rules to certify that their products are the by-product of subsistence Indigenous hunting practices for them to be eligible for market access. Presently three bodies have obtained this recognition: the Government of Greenland, two Canadian territories -Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

What are the views from impacted Indigenous peoples?

Inuit voices are the leading Indigenous voices that speak about publicly against the EU ban on the import of seal products. To learn more about the Inuit publicly expressed views on the EU trade in seal products ban, you can find examples here:

• EU (2020): REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL On the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1775, on the Trade in Seal Products
• Nunatsiaq News (2020): Inuit exemption to European Union’s seal product ban is ineffective: report
• High North News (2016): EU Seal Ban Has Had a Lot of Negative Consequences for Greenland
• Arctic Portal (2015): Greenland and Nunavut urge the EU to revise the Seal Ban
• Radio Canada (2013): Eye on the Arctic – Why Inuit are still fighting the EU seal ban
• Nunatsiaq News (2011): Inuit will continue challenging EU seal ban: ITK annual general meeting
• Nunatsiaq News (2010): Inuit groups launch lawsuit over EU seal ban
• Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada (2009): European Union Knows Proposed Seal Ban Would Be Unlawful
• CBC News (2009): Nunavut, Inuit leaders vow to keep lobbying against EU seal ban

In feedback to the EU in 2020, the Government of Greenland has stressed that the EU has contributed to the stigma associated with sealing and seal products and should do more to address this issue. The Northwest Territories government argued in 2020 that “the EU Seal Regime has destroyed the EU market for seal products, and it would be vastly improved if the EU would agree that all seals harvested by Inuit/Inuvialuit be considered compliant and therefore automatically certified”. And despite the exception to import seal products being in place, the Governments of Nunavut and Northwest Territories not that the exception has not increased harvesting. Overall:

Greenland urges the EU to raise awareness and improve information to European citizens on the legality of trade in products from seals hunted by Inuit or other indigenous communities, hereby restoring consumer confidence. Nunavut invites the EU to meet with the recognised bodies and other implicated stakeholders to discuss ways to better operationalise the requirements of the Regulation in order to maximize the benefit of the exemption for Inuit in this changing world. The Northwest Territories urge the EU to address the seal ban in a public forum and to issue a communique acknowledging the existence of the Inuit exception and the right of the Inuit to sell seal products to the EU and of EU citizens to legally possess certified seal products.

Inuit Exception in practice:

Thought the Inuit Exception technically permits qualified Indigenous peoples/organisations to place their products on the EU market, providing access to the 27 member states, in practice the use of the Inuit/Indigenous exception is very limited. As of 2023 an EU report states that:

Denmark and Estonia were the only Member States to report that seal products were placed on their market, based on the conditions set out in the “Inuit or other indigenous communities” exception. The Danish customs recorded seal product imports from Greenland for a total value of DDK 8 347 944 (= EUR 1 122 337 with the exchange rate of 17.01.2023) and a total volume of 32 109 kg, in comparison with the 10 502 kg reported for the previous period, which covered three years instead of four. For the first time, Estonia reported seal product imports from Greenland for a total value of EUR 1 555.67 and a total volume of 34.16 kg. The products imported by Denmark and Estonia mainly included unassembled tanned or dressed sealskins, but also articles of apparel, clothing accessories and other articles of sealskin, such as shoes and boots from seal leather.

As the above EU report illustrates, technical market access via the Inuit/Indigenous exception is not translating into opportunities for Indigenous communities impacted by the EU trade ban on seal product imports.

Despite the numbers illustrating the continued extreme limitation on Indigenous access to opportunities in the EU marketplace, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated in 2023 in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador – the leading target of anti-sealing activism and activists for decades – that in her opinion “the exemption for Indigenous sealers is going well”.

Von der Leyen stated:

I think we found a good balance…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.

Von der Leyen’s comments demonstrate a clear disconnect between her views on the Inuit Exception and the reality of the exception, and the overarching impact of the ban on seal product imports, for Indigenous hunters, businesses, communities and artisans.