Request Denmark to have American Import Ban Lifted

A delegation from the ICC (Inuit Circumpolar Conference) and KNAPK (the Greenland Association of Fishermen and Hunters) will meet with the Danish Foreign Minister today to demand that Denmark address the American authorities to have the US ban against import of sea mammal products lifted.

According to a new report by the Canadian Professor of International Law, Ted McDorman this ban is in contravention of the international trade agreement GATT. The report which has been prepared at the request of the international association of hunters High North Alliance (HNA) will be made public by representatives of ICC, KNAPK and HNA on Tuesday at 1.30 pm in connection with The Nordic Council of Ministers' Seminar on Indigenous Peoples' Production and Trade (15 - 17 January 1996 in Eigtveds Pakhus, Copenhagen.)

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The 3 organizations will hand over McDorman's report to the American Embassy demanding that the US lifts its import ban.

For many years now the populations in the coastal areas around the North Atlantic, including Inuit in Canada and Greenland, have struggled with huge problems in selling their sea mammal products, due to lobbyism of international advocacy groups and the US' import ban.

There are numerous species of seals in the Greenland waters and none of them are considered endangered. Due to this there are no restrictions tied to trading products from any of these species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In other words: The general ban by the US on import of sea mammal products, which is warranted in national law, has no ecological justification.

Today the waters between Greenland and Canada hold app. 4,7 million harp seals. The annual catch in Greenland is app. 130,000 seals of different species and app. 3,000 hunters base their livelihood solely on sealing.

Before the import ban was established in 1972, the US was a very important market for especially the Inuit in Canada. Today there is high demand for seal skin products by American tourists who visit Denmark and Greenland, but should the tourists purchase e.g. a seal skin coat this would be confiscated by US customs.

"The Danish authorities have neglected their obligation to safe guard Greenland's trade interests. We take it for granted that the Danish Foreign Minister raises this issue with the US and if necessary summons the US before the GATT court" says Vice President of the ICC, Aqqaluk Lynge from Greenland.