Norway joins WTO challenge to EU seal trade ban

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway joined a Canadian challenge at the World Trade Organisation on Thursday to the European Union's ban on trade in seal products.

A Norwegian government statement said that Oslo was formally requesting consultations with Brussels over the ban, the first stage in a trade dispute, following a similar move by Canada on Monday.

The row pits ecologists who say that seals are killed cruelly for their fur, oil and meat against marine communities for whom seal-hunting is a traditional way of life in Canada and Norway, whose governments say the cull is humane.

"The ban undermines our possibilities of carrying out sound, ecosystem-based management of natural resources, and it sets a dangerous precedent for trade in products that are harvested in a sustainable manner," said Vidar Ulriksen, state secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs.

The EU ban, affecting only 4 million euros ($6 million) in annual trade, was agreed in September and enters into force on Aug. 20 next year.

Brussels argues that the ban is not protectionist or discriminatory as it applies to seals from all countries. It also exempts products from traditional hunts carried out by the Inuit people in Canada and Greenland.

(Additional reporting by Richard Solem)