Seals : EU scores partial victory in WTO

The European Union has scored a victory, albeit not total, in its appeal of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) November 2013 ruling on a complaint by Canada and Norway. On 22 May, the WTO Appellate Body confirmed that the EU's ban on seal products "is justified on moral grounds relating to animal welfare concerns," especially on slaughter methods. The body nevertheless qualifies its decision by noting that the ban is applied "in a manner that constitutes arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination,"…