NEWS RELEASES
CANADA AND EUROPEAN UNION SIGN AGREEMENT ON INTERNATIONAL HUMANE TRAPPING STANDARDS
December 15, 1997 No. 210
CANADA AND EUROPEAN UNION SIGN AGREEMENT ON
INTERNATIONAL HUMANE TRAPPING STANDARDS
International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi announced that Canada and the
European Union (EU) today signed the Agreement on International Humane Trapping
Standards.
"This agreement is a significant achievement for Canada and the EU," said
Mr. Marchi. "It is good for trade and ensures more humane treatment of animals
that are trapped. The Agreement provides a clear framework that will allow the
fur industry in both Canada and the EU to develop and maintain jobs. It is also
the first document to specifically address international standards of animal
welfare. I am particularly pleased that Aboriginal peoples in Canada
participated in the discussions between Canada and the EU over the last several
years and were able to see their concerns reflected and addressed in the
process."
The Agreement establishes the stringent scientific basis by which standards
will be applied to all trapping methods involving mechanical devices with
respect to the capture of 19 species of wild mammals. These standards will
apply regardless of the reasons for capture, whether for pest control,
conservation, fur or food. Parties to the Agreement are obliged to prohibit
trapping methods that do not comply with these standards within an established
time frame of five to eight years.
The Agreement was signed today in Brussels by Jean-Pierre Juneau, Canada's
Ambassador to the European Union; Ambassador Jean-Jacques Kasel of the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg, representing the Presidency of the Council of the European
Union; and Hans-Friedrich Beseler, Director General for External Relations of
the European Commission.
"Not only does this agreement benefit those who have an interest or who make
their living in Canada's fur industry, it is also an excellent example of how
Canada and the EU can work together to find solutions to difficult issues,"
concluded Mr. Marchi.
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A backgrounder is attached. Additional background documents on the Agreement
are available on request from the sources listed below.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Leslie Swartman
Office of the Minister for International Trade
(613) 992-7332
Brian Roberts
Manager, Fur Program
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs
(819) 997-7247
Neal Jotham
Co-ordinator, Humane Trapping Program
Canadian Wildlife Service
Environment Canada
(819) 997-0832
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Backgrounder
CANADA-EUROPEAN UNION AGREEMENT ON
INTERNATIONAL HUMANE TRAPPING STANDARDS
On December 15, 1997, the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards
was signed in Brussels by Canada and the European Union (EU). Signature by the
Russian Federation is expected in early 1998.
In May, Canada, the EU and the Russian Federation initialled the Agreement, and
on July 22 the Agreement was approved by the EU General Affairs Council.
Economic Impact
Europe has been the main market for Canadian furs since the early 1600s. About
three quarters of Canadian wild fur exports go to Europe. About one million
animals are trapped annually in Canada. It is estimated that the entire fur
industry adds about $600 million to the Canadian economy annually.
Approximately 80 000 trappers in Canada, approximately 40 000 of them
Aboriginal people, make widely varying amounts of income in this primarily
seasonal activity of the late fall and winter months. At the same time, it is
estimated that fur sales make up 30-60 percent of all income in northern
Aboriginal communities. Some studies suggest that hunting and trapping for
"country foods" may account for 80 percent of all food consumed in some
communities.
Animal Welfare Concerns
Fur is a natural, renewable resource, whose carefully managed harvesting from
wild fur-bearing animals successfully applies the principles of sustainable use
as described in the World Conservation Strategy and the International
Convention on Biodiversity. No fur-bearing species trapped in Canada is
endangered or threatened. Trapping in Canada, as in other parts of the world,
aims to achieve a variety of goals, including pest and disease control,
protection of the economic infrastructure, such as dikes, and provision of food
and clothing.
Canada's commitment to the principles of conservation and animal welfare has
led to the replacement of inferior trapping techniques with traps proven to be
more selective, safer or more humane. Trappers, who are also business people,
recognize the need to use the most humane and efficient trapping methods as
they produce the best quality and most valuable fur. All provinces and
territories require trappers to have licences obtained by taking training
courses. Since 1987, trappers themselves, with the government, have funded the
training of thousands of Aboriginal and northern trappers in the use of
efficient, selective and humane techniques to meet provincial and territorial
regulations. Canada's program for research and development of humane trapping
systems, which has been recognized by the World Conservation Union, is the most
extensive of its kind. Canadian governments and industry have spent over
$10 million on research in this field.
Scope of the Agreement
The Agreement is a model for the solution of other international issues where
economic interests are intertwined with environmental concerns, a combination
that will be very much in the fore of trade policy in the years ahead. Most
important, signatories to the Agreement may not apply trade measures against
one another.
The Agreement deals with this difficult issue through the definition of the
specific acceptable effects of all traps on animals. In this it goes farther
than the EU's simple ban on a kind of trap. This Agreement examines all traps
for the capacity to lead to many types of self-inflicted and other injuries,
and will prohibit those traps that cause such injuries. The Agreement permits
the use of other types of traps and those jaw-type leghold traps that meet the
standard. In addition to its effect in Canada, the Agreement will have an
impact on trapping in the EU, where five million animals are trapped annually
and where several hundred types of traps are used.
The Agreement is a major step forward in the development of more humane
trapping practices and goes beyond EU Regulation 3254/91 in advancing animal
welfare, by extending coverage to 19 species from 13. The Agreement provides
basic definitions, elaborate and meaningful trap standards, species-specific
trap certification, and guidelines for use, testing procedures, trapper
training and coverage of all types of traps for listed species -- provisions not
found in any EU legislation.
Upon ratification, Canada has agreed to prohibit all jaw-type leghold traps on
land for seven species, although they can still be used under water. Within 46
months of the EU ratification, Canada has also agreed to prohibit the use of
conventional steel-jawed leghold traps on land for another five species. This
will allow for modified (e.g. padded) jaw-type leghold traps to be used. Within
eight years of the Agreement's entry into force, all signatories are to have
completed trap testing and to have prohibited all those traps that do not meet
the standard.
Implementation of the Agreement
Although details of how the Agreement will be implemented have yet to be
finalized, intensive consultations between fur industry stakeholders are
ongoing. Also, it should be noted that the federal government has held
consultations with various Aboriginal groups regarding the implementation. With
respect to co-ordination of the implementation of the Agreement, it is
envisaged that the Fur Institute of Canada, an organization originally
established by provincial and territorial wildlife ministers, will play a
central role along with appropriate federal agencies.
As set out under the Agreement, fur shipments entering the EU effective
December 1, 1997, must be accompanied by certificates of origin that certify
that the furs and fur products originate in Canada. A certification system is
now operational in Canada that will ensure continued market access to the EU
for Canadian furs and fur products.
December 1997
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