International

The European parliament today voted at its plenary session in Strasbourg to ban trade in seal fur and other seal products. SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard, who presented a number of amendments aimed at strengthening the original proposal, said that she was "delighted" by the vote. During the debate which preceded it, she presented the case for a total ban.

"We have at last struck a blow for the cause of putting an end to the cruel and bloody show of suffering and pain in which young seals, from twelve days after their birth, are clubbed to death or shot down. It fills me with horror and disgust to think that the extraordinary spectacle of nature which is the birthing time of seals should be transformed each year into a bloodbath," Liotard said.

"That we will now see an EU-wide ban on the import of seal fur, which we have had in the Netherlands for some time, is in my view a great achievement," she added.

"I also by the way want to thank the thousands of activists in the Netherlands and congratulate those who by means of their e-mails have called for a complete ban on trade in seal fur. This is also a victory. They reflect in a persuasive manner the views of the European peoples and this made the debate somewhat easier. Dutch activists have brought more of the Netherlands to Brussels, which is a fine thing."