Japan dealt two defeats by whaling commission

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?np20020521a1.htm

 

Japan dealt two defeats by whaling commission

First-day votes keep Iceland out, ballots public

 

SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi Pref. (Kyodo) The International

Whaling Commission voted down on Monday two proposals

key to Japan's campaign to resume commercial whaling.

 

Countries against Japan's efforts to get the IWC to

lift its worldwide ban on commercial whaling launched

sharp attacks on the whaling lobby from the start of

the IWC's 54th annual plenary assembly.

 

The first issue the 48-member body put to a vote was

an objection filed by Japan and Norway to the

chairman's ruling to maintain Iceland's observer

status. Of the 45 countries with voting rights, 25

rejected the challenge while 20 supported it.

 

Members also blocked the prowhaling group's proposal

to introduce secret balloting for key IWC decisions,

including whale catch permits and other regulations,

by 25 to 19 with one abstention.

 

Iceland Commissioner Stefan Assmundsson said with

regard to his country's observer status: " The IWC has

no competence to decide whether a country is a member

or not. It's very clear that Iceland considers itself

a member. "

 

Iceland left the IWC in 1992, angry at the prolonged

delay in the organization's bid to create a new

resource-management scheme. It was limited to observer

status when it tried to return last year because it

refused to fully accept the body's 1982 moratorium on

commercial whaling.

 

Antigua and Barbuda Commissioner Daven Joseph said

after the secret-balloting proposal was rejected that

his country was disappointed. He said his fellow

Caribbean nations fear the conventional open roll

calls are causing antiwhaling campaigners to stage

" boycott and economic threats " against their

tourism-dependent economies.

 

Heated debate between the two camps is expected to

continue but is unlikely to result in a major

breakthrough, because any binding decision requires a

three-quarters majority.

 

The Japanese delegation initially expected the whaling

camp to garner sufficient support from four new

members to give it a simple majority on some

proposals. But a senior official acknowledged

worse-than-expected defeats on the first day.

 

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu

Takebe called on the IWC to allow what Japan calls the

sustainable commercial use of whale and other marine

resources.

 

" I sincerely hope that this meeting in Shimonoseki

will induce IWC member nations to not make exceptions

of cetaceans . . . and that we will be able to achieve

new progress toward the basic principle of the

sustainable use of whales, " Takebe said in an opening

address.

 

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Shigeo Uetake told the

meeting whales are a " precious resource for human

beings " and called on the members to have " rational

and constructive discussions. "

 

Shimonoseki Mayor Kiyoshi Ejima said in his speech to

the meeting, " Shimonoseki is known as the city of

whales and we hope to continue being a center of

information on whales for the rest of the world, "

citing the city's history as a major whaling base.

 

Six new members entered the IWC this year in the runup

to the general assembly. They include Benin, Gabon,

Palau and Mongolia. Japan expects the four to be

supportive of its bid for the resumption of commercial

whaling.

 

Just prior to the meeting, a group of 11 small

countries in the Caribbean, Oceania and Africa urged

the IWC in a news conference to allow a resumption of

commercial whaling, accusing antiwhaling members of

denying them the right to develop.

 

Antiwhaling environmental groups have accused Japan of

attempting to secure a simple majority by using

foreign aid to buy the votes of small developing

countries.

 

Japan, in a bid to win more support, is placing

emphasis on procedural matters, such as reviewing the

IWC's financial contribution system to alleviate the

burden on small countries.

 

Japan also plans to propose putting to a vote a

resolution supporting its research whaling programs.

 

If the resolution is adopted, it would be the first

time since 1994 for a vote in favor of Japan's whaling

program.

 

But the antiwhaling countries are expected to lodge

strong protests, particularly given that Japan plans

to expand one of two programs to include catches of 50

North Pacific sei whales, an endangered species.

 

 

'Axis of intolerance'

SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi Pref. (Kyodo) A group of 11

small countries in the Caribbean, Oceania and Africa

urged the IWC on Monday to allow commercial whaling to

resume and accused antiwhaling members of denying them

the right to develop.

Antigua & Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines,

Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, the

Solomon Islands, Palau, Gabon, Benin and Guinea stated

their prowhaling position at a news conference prior

to the opening of the IWC's annual conference.

 

The group branded antiwhaling countries, including the

United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, as

an " axis of intolerance " of different cultures in the

world.

 

They said the antiwhaling nations apply a double

standard: hunting wildlife for recreation on one hand

and opposing whaling on the other.

 

Antigua & Barbuda Commissioner Daven Joseph leads the

group. He said antiwhaling campaigners often threaten

to boycott the " vital tourism industry " of the small

countries. To be free of such fear, the group called

on the IWC to introduce secret balloting.

 

It also urged the IWC to revise the contribution

system. It puts too much of a burden on developing

members and prevents many other developing countries

from being represented at the IWC, the group said.

 

The representatives of the 11 nations were asked about

allegations by nongovernmental organizations that

Japan is using foreign aid funds to buy votes and lure

new supporters of whaling to the IWC.

 

Grenada Commissioner Claris Charles said she feels

" insulted " by the claim. Kuniwo Nakamura, from Palau,

which joined the IWC this month, claimed, " We were not

pressured by any country. "

 

The Japan Times: May 21, 2002

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