CANADA'S annual commercial seal hunt will begin again shortly. I recently signed a declaration aimed at enforcing a Europe-wide ban on the trade in seal products.

Last year, close to 250,000 harp and hooded seals, the vast majority of them under three months old, were clubbed to death or shot for their fur and other products.

Every year there are calls to end this inhumane practice, but little action is taken. Only a few EU states have fully outlawed the trade in seal products. The UK is not among them.

If the EU used its combined economic power to stop producers of seal products trading within its borders this would certainly have an effect. Closing down the markets for seal products would help bring commercial seal hunts to an end.

I am certain most constituents agree with my stance and I can assure them I will make efforts to ensure the European Commission opts for a full ban on all seal products.

Timothy Kirkhope, Conservative MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, Scotton, North Yorkshire.