Signing of traps deal postponed

Date: 11/12/1997

By Simon Coss

A LAST-minute hitch this week delayed approval of a transatlantic agreement on phasing out the use of controversial leghold animal traps in the United States.

EU transport ministers had been set to rubber stamp the accord yesterday (10 December), but the decision was postponed after several member states voiced concern over what precisely was agreed with Washington.

Immediately after the deal was struck, Union ambassadors gave their initial approval, averting a potential EU-US trade war. In the absence of an agreement, a ban on the import of American furs caught with leghold traps in would have come into force on 1 December. But when ambassadors met again yesterday, both France and Germany expressed concern about the deal. Their unease has been prompted by confusion over the precise terms of the agreement.

Animal welfare campaigners claim that Washington believes it will be allowed to continue using the traps after the agreed six-year phase-out period if suitable alternatives cannot be found. But the European Commission insists this is not the case.

Bonn asked for extra time to study the text of the agreement before deciding whether to support it, while Paris insisted that checks must be put in place to ensure US compliance. The UK, Belgium and Austria have been opposed to the leghold traps compromise all along.

As European Voice went to press, EU officials were planning to present the deal to foreign ministers meeting in Switzerland today (11 December). They were hoping that the text would be approved without debate, but conceded that if doubts remained, the issue would have to be discussed at the meeting.

The latest delay comes after the Commission had to alter its original plan to get the deal approved at a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the beginning of this week.