EC – Seal Products (TBT Aspects of the Panel and Appellate Body Reports): Seals and Sensibilities

Abstract

When the European Union imposed a ban on the import of seal products, Canada and Norway challenged that ban at the World Trade Organization. This paper analyzes the issues and reasoning in the 2013 Dispute Settlement Panel decision, with some attention to the Appellate Body decision that followed. Among the important questions are the definition of a "technical regulation" as well as particular interpretations of the agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). The decision dealt more generally with the balance between a nation’s right to regulate in support of its citizens’ moral concerns and trading partners’ rights to market access.