The Environment Ministers held a first exchange of views on the draft regulation concerning trade in seal products in order to direct the work at technical level that is continuing with a view to carrying this dossier forward as quickly as possible.
The discussion centred on two questions presented by the Presidency concerning, on the one hand, the ambitiousness of the regulation as regards animal welfare and, on the other, the implementation conditions.
At the end of the meeting, the Presidency summarised the outcome of the discussion as follows:
- all the delegations which gave their comments underlined the importance of the draft regulation and expressed their sympathy, broadly shared by European citizens, with the issue of seal welfare;
- delegations were receptive to the fact that the basic interests of the Inuit communities linked to traditional hunting and subsistence should not be compromised;
- to ensure the practical implementation of the regulation, a more detailed examination seems necessary, particularly as regards the scope and feasibility of certain provisions.