Statement from New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to the media regarding Japan's Whaling Campaign in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary

13 January 2000

“I am asking the Minister of Foreign Affairs to contact his Japanese counterpart to make a strong representations about the way in which Greenpeace representatives were treated by the Japanese whaling ship.

“New Zealand’s position on Japan’s so called scientific whaling research programme is well known. New Zealand has long expressed its opposition to Japan's whaling programme at meetings of the International Whaling Commission and has led a number of successful resolutions calling on Japan to stop its programme.

“Although the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling does not prohibit whales being killed for the purposes of scientific research; within the IWC there is a real question about whether this is the purpose of the Japanese activities, given that they do not meet any ‘critically important research need’.

“With respect to the incident in the Southern Ocean yesterday, all New Zealanders will be concerned at any situation which jeopardises safety at sea. This incident has the potential to turn an already tragic situation into a human disaster.

“New Zealand will be strongly challenging the Japanese programme at the next meeting of the IWC in Adelaide in July. The overwhelming majority of members of the IWC share New Zealand’s concerns about the Japanese whaling programme,” Helen Clark said.

Letter from New Zealand Foreign Ministry to the Japanese Foreign Ministry

15 November 1999

HE Mr Yohei Kono
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Tokyo

Dear Minister:

In light of the recent departure from Japan of its whaling fleet I am writing to you to express New Zealand's concerns about Japan's continuation of whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

I understand that some 440 minke whales are intended to be taken this year under the JARPA (Japanese Research Programme in the Antarctic). Some 4,500 whales may now have been taken from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary since JARPA onset nine years ago.

As you know from Article VIII of the Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) a Contracting Government may grant to any of its nationals a special permit authorising the killing for the purpose of scientific research. When this provision was included in the ICRW it was intended to provide for the situation to provide for the situation where a relatively small number of whales are taken and where the primary purpose is research.

I acknowledge that "research" is funded from the proceeds from catch sales and these proceeds contribute two-thirds of the annual budget of the Cetacean Research Institute in Tokyo.

Within the International Whaling Commission there is a question about whether JARPA "research" can be said to meet "critically important research needs." New Zealand scientists consider that almost all of the information gained by JARPA could be obtained from non-lethal sampling of minkes such as DNA testing.

In addition the New Zealand public are of the view that enough "research" has now been undertaken and such whaling is unacceptable particularly in Areas IV and V, south of New Zealand.

On behalf of the New Zealand Government and the people of New Zealand I urge you to consider suspending this programme.

Yours sincerely,

Hon. Simon Upton
Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade