IS THE EU SEAL PRODUCTS REGULATION A SEALED DEAL? EU AND WTO CHALLENGES

In both the EU and the WTO there are currently pending cases on the legality of EU Regulation 1007/2009 on trade in seal products and its Implementing Regulation 737/2010. While seals seem to be very attractive to the public so that raising arguments against these EU measures are not popular, the Regulations do raise concerns about competences, subsidiarity and proportionality which are relevant for compliance with EU primary law. They also raise concerns about possible protectionism, the use of public morals, coherence and necessity with regard to compatibility with WTO law. This paper seeks to examine all these issues.