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Japan Discusses European Relations Whilst it Continues Illegal Whaling

Southern Ocean/Amsterdam: Whilst the Japanese foreign minister, Mr. Yohei Kono, tours Europe to discuss Japan-EU economic relations, Greenpeace today continued to wage its most extensive action against his country's illegal whaling activities in the protected Southern Ocean Sanctuary in a decade.

This morning, Greenpeace, which has now been tracking Japan's illegal whaling activities for 23 days, witnessed seven minke whales being harpooned by Japanese whalers.

"Whilst Mr. Kono tries to continue 'business as usual' and discuss future European relations, his country is flagrantly defying international law. To avoid political embarrassment, he should ensure that Japan operates within the law and call off the whaling fleets," said Greenpeace campaigner John Bowler, on board the Greenpeace vessel the Arctic Sunrise.

The Governments of the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and, most recently, Argentina, have all protested to Japan over the last two months yet Japan continues its illegal whaling operations.

Greenpeace is calling on the French and British Governments to voice their opposition to Japan's whaling activities directly to Mr. Kono who will be in London on Wednesday 12th January and in Paris on 13th January, meeting with the foreign ministers of both countries. France was the first country to propose the Southern Ocean as a sanctuary for whales to permanently protect them from hunting. (1)

Japan’s whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary is part of a strategy to overturn international agreements to protect whales. Japan, with the support of Norway, is actively lobbying to lift the current ban on the international trade in whale products at the International Meeting of Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to be held in Nairobi, in April 2000. Japan has also embarked on a concerted effort to convince over a dozen developing countries to become members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and vote with Japan to resume large scale commercial whaling world- wide in exchange for foreign aid from the Government of Japan.

"If the international community stands by and let the Government of Japan have its way, whale species around the world will be threatened once again by large scale, commercial hunting,” added Bowler.

Notes to Editors:

(1) The Southern Ocean Sanctuary was established in 1994 by the International Whaling Commission with a vote of 23:1. Japan is the only country in the world that does not recognise the sanctuary. Japan plans to hunt 440 minke whales this season by exploiting a loophole the law that allows 'scientific' whaling. However, it sells the whale meat commercially on the open market.