Fw: [SWK] U.S. Will Retaliate with Sanctions Against Japan Unless ...

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>

>

> Monday July 31 12:45 PM ET

> U.S. Presses Japan to Call Off Whale Hunt

>

> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials said on

> Monday the Clinton

> administration could retaliate with sanctions

> against Japan if it refused to call

> off a whale hunt.

>

> Despite opposition from President Clinton,

> British Prime Minister Tony Blair

> and leading environmental groups, Japan said it

> will expand the whale hunt to

> include large Bryde and Sperm whales, two

> species protected under U.S. law. The Japanese

> already hunt the

> Minke whale.

>

> If Tokyo pressed ahead with the expanded hunt,

> the Clinton administration could impose sanctions

> against a

> wide range of Japanese products, though U.S.

> officials said other options were available.

>

> ``It's premature to gauge what the Japanese will

> do and how we will respond,'' said White House

> spokesman

> P.J. Crowley.

>

> Japan gave up commercial whaling in compliance

> with an international moratorium in 1986 but has

> engaged in

> research whaling since 1987.

>

> The practice has drawn fire from the World

> Wildlife Fund and anti-whaling nations, who see

> Japanese research

> as an end-run around the moratorium because the

> flesh ends up in the market for human

> consumption. Japan is

> the largest consumer of whale meat in the world.

>

> Japan's decision to expand the hunt outraged the

> United States and other members of the

> International Whaling

> Commission, which passed a resolution calling on

> Japan not to proceed.

>

> Despite appeals last week by Clinton and Blair,

> a Japanese whaling fleet left port on Saturday to

> start the hunt,

> with the goal of catching about 160 Minke as

> well as 50 Bryde and 10 Sperm whales.

>

> Japan's Fisheries Agency said the hunt was being

> conducted to gather information on the habitat,

> diet and

> migration patterns of the whales. As a part of

> the study the whales will be killed and their

> meat sold to local

> markets.

>

> During a visit to Japan, Secretary of State

> Madeleine Albright protested.

>

> According to U.S. officials, Bryde and Sperm

> whales have not been hunted for about 13 years,

> and are

> protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal

> Protection Act. Under U.S. law the Sperm whale is

> listed as an

> endangered species.

>

> ``We are deeply troubled by what is happening,''

> Albright told a news conference in Tokyo on

> Sunday.

> ``Whether it's for commercial or research

> purposes, it should not be happening.''

>

> But Japan's Vice Agriculture, Forestry and

> Fisheries Minister Yuki Takagi said the

> government would keep

> pursuing research whaling, according to the

> Kyodo news agency.

>

> Under U.S. law the Secretary of Commerce will

> review the issue and make recommendations to the

> president,

> who could impose trade sanctions or other

> retaliatory measures on Japan.

>

> ``We are several steps away from a decision,'' a

> U.S. official said.

> http://dailynews./h/nm/20000731/ts/environment_whales_dc_1.html

>

> =====

> Best to you, Susan

> ....

> http://www.stopwhalekill.org

> Because the U.S. flouts international agreements, nations and groups

around the world are now clamoring to become whalers. Help us save the

world's remaining great creatures, and the oceans.

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