Europe allows Inuit sealskins
Restrictive exemption loosened to support expanded market access
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 20, 2014
NUNAVUT
At long last, the European Union is allowing the unhindered import and sale of sealskins from Nunavut's Inuit hunters, the EU and Canadian governments declared Oct. 10.
Rannva Erlingsdottir Simonsen, seen in her newly expanded store and studio in Apex, believes a new agreement between Canada and the European Union will improve her ability to expand into the EU market, and will be a boon for Inuit seal hunters. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo |
Two major changes under the new agreement are that the EU will now allow indigenous seal products without restrictions based on type or intended use, and that non-indigenous people can now participate in the production of seal products.
"I think it could create many jobs," said Apex-based fur fashion designer Rannva Erlingsdottir Simonsen.
The new agreement will, for the first time, allow her seal fashions to be imported into Europe if she uses skins harvested by Inuit.
"It can create more jobs for hunting, skin cleaning, and producing things. I can envision many jobs for sewers out in the communities," she said.
Lowering barriers to Inuit employment is one of the key intentions of the agreement, which is called the Joint Statement by Canada and the European Union on Access to the European Union of Seal Products from Indigenous Communities of Canada.
Earlier this year, Nunavut News/North reported on Simonsen's desire to use solely Nunavut skins, noting the supply didn't exist in sufficient quantities. Currently, she is only able to access from Nunavut 20 per cent of the skins she needs.
"That was all I could get from here," she said. "The ones from Newfoundland I cannot sell in Europe."
To solve that issue, she is ready to take action herself.
"I have a hunter that is ready to hunt for me, and I have just spoken to a tannery to see if they can tan it, so I am taking that part into my own hands," she said. "I'm going to ask the government if they can support a test run because I could hire three hunters full time. I am slowly working towards that. I have the demand for skins."
Hinting at the economic growth potential, Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq heralded the rule changes.
"We took this fight all the way to the World Trade Organization," Aglukkaq stated in a news release, noting the federal government's efforts to reverse the ban. "The WTO found that the EU seal ban was arbitrarily and unjustifiably discriminatory against Canadian indigenous sealers.
"We are pleased with this result. This joint statement charts out the course for greater market access for Canadian seal products and will help indigenous communities that depend on the seal hunt to provide for their families and maintain their traditional way of life."
The European market for Nunavut's seal skins disintegrated after the European Union introduced the ban in September 2009, and started enforcing it in August 2010.
"The aim of the regulation is to ensure that products derived from seals are no longer found on the European market," according to the EU website detailing the ban.
The 2009 decision expanded on a 1983 directive that banned sealskins from pups.
Under both regulations, sealskins traditionally hunted by Inuit were permitted, with the condition that such sales must contribute to the hunter's sustenance. The exemption was, by all accounts, too restrictive and ineffective in benefiting Inuit hunters.
The EU decisions stemmed from public outcry after an effective animal rights publicity campaign.
"You cannot make legislation based on emotion," Iqaluit sealskin seamstress and activist Aaju Peter told Nunavut News/North in 2012, when receiving the Order of Canada for her efforts to reverse the ban. "It's not based on anything other than it's wrong to kill seals. They have the right to eat force-fed animals (foie gras from ducks), but we don't have the right to make an existence. In my book, that's wrong."
To help revitalize the industry, the Nunavut government instituted a guaranteed pricing system for harvesters, and since 2009 has consistently subsidized the hunt since auction prices have never been higher than the guaranteed price.
Premier Peter Taptuna voiced the government's support for increased access to the European market.
"Sealing has been a part of the fabric of Inuit life for millenia," Taptuna stated.
"The Government of Nunavut strongly supports and endorses any expanded access and opportunities that the European market may have for indigenous seal products."
Others are also hopeful.
"Inuit have suffered immeasurably as a result of other nations' discriminatory bans on seal products," Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Terry Audla stated in a release. "We remain hopeful that the trade of seal products - an abundant, renewable, sustainable and natural resource - (will) be once again a generator of economic growth for Inuit communities."
There is still a lot to discuss. One of the key problems Simonsen is finding is that there is as of yet no way to prove one of her products comes from an Inuit-harvested skin instead of from Newfoundland.
She's working with the Nunavut government to develop a system, which currently involves tagging, but may require something more permanent to ensure the EU does not bar her products.
