Posted
25th July 2001
Whales For Sale
Measures to further protect the worldís whales were today undermined
when South Pacific nations were denied their right to a South
Pacific Whale Sanctuary (SPWS). Opposition from Japan, Norway
and the block of countries that vote with Japan in return for
Overseas Development Aid (1), prevented the sanctuary proposal
from achieving the three quarters majority it needed to be adopted.
ìYet
again Japanís vote buying means that South Pacific Nations have
been denied their right to a whale sanctuary,î said Sarah Duthie,
Greenpeace oceans campaigner, who is attending the IWC meeting
in London. ìThe fact that Japan has bought the votes of many
developing countries, some of which are island states, is a
slap in the face to the South Pacific and has grave consequences
for the future protection of whalesî she added. South Pacific
Nations have repeatedly requested that the sanctuary be established,
most recently in a statement issued in Apia, Samoa in April
2001 (2).
The
proposal had the backing of South Pacific island states whose
waters it would have covered and the majority support of countries
at the IWC meeting.(3) Todayís vote followed last weekís startling
admission from a senior Japanese official that Japan has been
using development aid to buy votes at the IWC (4). Japan is
openly corrupting the IWC in order to prevent further conservation
of whales and to advance its pro-whaling initiatives. Norway,
Japanís closest ally at the IWC and the only other country that
actively whales commercially, at present refuses to denounce
Japanese vote buying and is actively benefiting from it. Unless
challenged, Japanís vote buying is set to continue. Namibia
and Gabon, who recently signed lucrative fisheries deals with
Japan, have now become observers of the IWC.
It is expected that by next yearís IWC meeting in Shimonoseki,
Japan, May 2002, Namibia and Gabon will have become fully fledged
members and will vote in support of Japan and Norwayís pro-
whaling initiatives. ìIt is scandalous that Japan can simply
buy its own way at the IWC and undermine the will of a vast
majority of people worldwide who want to see whales protected.
Unless the international community publicly condemns this blatant
corruption, it may only a matter of months before we see a return
to full scale commercial whaling and international trade in
whale products,î concluded Duthie. Twenty countries voted in
favour of the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary, thirteen against
it. Ireland, Oman, Morocco and the Solomon Islands abstained
on the vote. Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Rep of
Guinea, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines
and Panama. Others that voted against the proposal were: China,
Denmark, Japan, Korea and Norway.
(2) The Apia Statement was signed by: Ministers of Australia,
Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa,
Tokelau; Ministerial Representatives from Cook Islands, Tuvalu
and Tonga; Representatives of American Samoa, New Caledonia,
French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna.
(3)
Countries that voted in favour of the proposal were: Argentina,
Australia, Chile, Finland, Germany, India, Mexico, Monaco, South
Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria, Brazil,
France, Italy, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the U.S.
(4)
In interview broadcast on ABC TV last week, a senior Japanese
official, Mr Komatsu, described minke whales as ëcockroaches
of the seaí and admitted that Japan saw development aid as ëa
major toolí in ensuring that key developing countries voted
in favour of whaling at the IWC...
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