The EU's four-year-old ban on seal fur will remain in place after the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rejected an appeal by Canada and Norway thus setting a precedent that animal welfare can trump the right to trade.
In its landmark ruling on Thursday (22 May), the Geneva-based trade organisation said that its appellate body had "upheld the panel's finding that the EU Seal Regime is 'necessary to protect public morals'".
The decision by the WTO's appellate body, which is final, fou...
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Benjamin Fox is a seasoned reporter and editor, previously working for fellow Brussels publication Euractiv. His reporting has also been published in the Guardian, the East African, Euractiv, Private Eye and Africa Confidential, among others. He heads up the AU-EU section at EUobserver, based in Nairobi, Kenya.