IQALUIT - The trade and manufacturing of seal products in the European Union can continue until the seal ban challenge is heard in court, the European General Court has stated.

The proposed European Union ban on the importation of seal products in its member-countries was suspended on Aug. 19, a day before the legislation would have come into force.

The European General Court clarified that suspension on Oct. 20, stating seal products "must be treated during the entirety of their marketing process (whether they are processed or not) as if that Article 3 (which bans seal products) did not exist." This stalls the ban for now, pending future hearings.

National Inuit leader Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said she is hoping for a favourable decision.

"We now understand what decision they made so it allows for whoever wants to continue to place their products onto or throughout the EU market, that this can be done without disruption," she said. "If people want to take advantage of that, it's there. People that were selling before will probably pick up their activities again."

Earlier this year, Canadian and Greenlandic Inuit, as well as other plaintiffs, launched a legal action to annul the seal ban regulation and seek interim injunctions while the main case proceeds.

"I think they (the EU court) are taking it seriously and wants to fully weigh the plaintiffs' objection to the seal ban," Simon said. "So far, it has been favourable and it gives us a lot of incentives to continue with the case."

Qikiqtani Inuit Association President Okalik Eegeesiak said the latest decision from the EU court is "excellent news."

"You can't really tell where the seal pelts are coming from when they get into the market, so having a ban on Canadian seal pelts is kind of stupid," she said.

Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk said the GN is happy with the decision and how the EU court is viewing the whole situation. He added he hopes the decision will lead to increased seal trade.

"The whole sealing industry right now is in decline but I would hope this would have some impact on ... increasing ... demand (for) sealskins and the price of sealskins would go up," he said.

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