Blanked Out
At the request of Egede, the words “CITES and” were blanked out at the display. Furthermore, the U.S. delegation told the plenary that they “deeply regretted the error.”
False Impression
“The hunting of marine mammals is no different from the hunting of other animals,” says Egede. “The U.S. has no reason to close its markets to products that are important for the livelihood of Inuit communities. No rational argument can be forwarded to defend it . Moreover, their import prohibition on marine mammal products violates the GATT.”
Directly into Households
The statement quoted above appeared as part of an apology for misinformation spread at the exhibition on CITES and the conservation of wildlife which was arranged by the U.S. as the host nation of the conference. The text of a display on the trade in marine mammals read that “...seals are protected by CITES and U.S. laws, yet products continue to be marketed and illegally traded.” The U.S. delegation told the CITES plenary that the vice president of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Ingmar Egede, had made them aware that this statement was misleading and provided the following correction: “... (it) should have read “CITES or U.S. law...” All species are protected by U.S. law, while some species are listed under CITES. Other seal species, most of which are healthy and abundant, may be traded under international law.” Most sealskin items at the exhibition stemmed from species of seal that are not on the CITES list.
“Although we appreciate what the U.S. has done to correct their error, we are still not satisfied,” Mr. Egede said to the Conservation Tribune, a newsletter published at the CITES conference. “Displaying items made from harp seals, ring seals and hooded seals right next to hunting trophies of the black rhino, a species that is close to extinction, gives the false impression that these seal species are also threatened, when in fact they can be counted in the millions. They should not have been included at all in an exhibition concerned with trade in endangered species.”
“The sale of crafts, sealskin bags and so on, to U.S. tourists would have significance to the Inuit communities of Canada. It gives earnings that go directly into the households,” says David Gladders of the Canadian Inuit interest organisation, Inuit Taprisat. Today, all such items that are discovered are confiscated by U.S. customs. A long list of seized items compiled by the customs shows that there is great interest for the purchase of this kind of souvenir in spite of the import ban. Gladders says that before the ban came into force back in 1972, the export of whalebone carvings to the U.S. alone was worth 1.5 million dollars. Nearly all the sealskin items shown at the CITES exhibition had been purchased abroad by U.S. citizens and seized by the customs.