Single WTO panel will hear seal ban grievance from Norway, Canada
The panel may take a year before announcing its conclusion
The World Trade Organization said April 21 that a single arbitration panel will hear two separate complaints from Norway and Canada about the European Union’s 2009 import ban on seal products, AFP reports.
Last month, Norway joined Canada in asking the WTO to establish a dispute-settlement panel to consider hear its challenge to the EU’s seal products ban.
Canada announced earlier this year that it wanted a dispute-settlement panel to challenge the ban, which came into force last summer in the 27 EU-member nations.
Althugh the panel was formed April 21, it may take a year to reach a conclusion.
The European Parliament, dismissing Canada’s argument that the hunt is humane, voted by a margin of 550 to 49 to impose its seal ban in May 2009.
Since then, several rounds of trade consultations through the trade organization have failed to resolve the dispute.
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