by Nadia Sam-Daliri A ban on the trade of seal products has been brought in after a long campaign by an MEP for northwest London. Robert Evans, the Labour European MP for the area, said he received thousands of letters from concerned resi

by Nadia Sam-Daliri

A ban on the trade of seal products has been brought in after a long campaign by an MEP for northwest London.

Robert Evans, the Labour European MP for the area, said he received thousands of letters from concerned residents in Brent and neighbouring boroughs, leading to him starting a campaign against the brutal battering of baby seals for their fur and by-products.

The European parliament has just voted to ban trade on products including fur, leather and omega 3 fatty acid oil from dead seals, sea lions and walruses.

Mr Evans said: "Thousands of residents have written to me about this issue since I became an MEP in 1994. A ban on this horrific trade across the EU is long overdue."

Seals in Canada and the north west Atlantic are killed with a club that has a metal point on it, dragging them onto the ice.

Between 2002 and 2006, one and a half million baby harp seals were slaughtered in this way.

More than 40 per cent were skinned alive.

After visit to Canada in 1996 Mr Evans, who is European Parliament coordinator for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, started the campaign.

nadia.sam-daliri@archant.co.uk