Animal protection activists again urged the government Friday to ban the import and sale of seal oil in Taiwan to help stop the slaughter of the marine mammal. The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) has since April been promoting a campaign calling for the boycotting of seal and sea lion products. The drive has succeeded in getting the products off the shelves of retail chains including Cosmed, Watsons, Pxmart and Wellcome. The online health product seller Holy Dot Com has also stopped supplying the products, EAST officials said in a news conference held in Taipei Friday. However, the products are still being sold by online retailers including Momo Shop, ETmall and PChome Online, they said. Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of the Canada chapter of Humane Society International, noted at the news conference that the United States, European Union, Mexico and Croatia have all banned imports of seal oil and she expressed hope that Taiwan will follow suit. With Canada's annual seal hunt set to kick off in four months, imposing the ban will allow Taiwan to contribute to seal protection, Aldworth said. According to EAST, Taiwan is the fourth-largest market for Canadian seal products. From 2003 to 2009, it imported 431,364 kg of seal oil, an amount requiring the killing of 120,000 seals. In a shocking video shown at the news conference, a Canadian hunter was seen bludgeoning a defenseless seal pup with a cudgel before throwing the dying animal onto a boat. A Council of Agriculture (COA) official said an EAST-backed petition calling for the ban on seal oil has been signed by 160,000 people. After the petition is submitted to the COA, the council will consider the proposal and notify the Bureau of Foreign Trade of any decision made, the official said. 