Japan's Komatsu urges Australia, New Zealand to leave IWC

Japan Policy & Politics, May 27, 2002

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan, May 21 Kyodo

A senior official of Japan's Fisheries Agency on Tuesday urged antiwhaling nations Australia and New Zealand to leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

In a press release issued in Shimonoseki, western Japan, Masayuki Komatsu, the agency's counselor and member of the Japanese delegation to the IWC, said the two countries' continued adherence to an antiwhaling standpoint and promotion of sanctuaries for whales within a whaling organization ''subverts the purpose of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.''

''The IWC is there to regulate the whaling industry for whaling nations. Instead, they continue to obstruct the work of the commission through frivolous proposals like the sanctuary and thwart the implementation of the Revised Management Scheme,'' said Komatsu.

''It is time Australia and New Zealand abided by their international obligations to bring about the development of the whaling industry, or leave the IWC,'' he said.

The IWC voted 24 to 16 in favor of the two countries' joint motion for the declaration of a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary, but it was defeated under the organization's three-quarter majority rule for key decisions.

Commenting on Komatsu's statement, New Zealand's Conservation Minister Sandra Lee said, ''My government is a strong supporter of the IWC...It's not my government's intention or desire to leave the IWC.''

She also stressed the necessity of member nations continuing to work together to fill the gaps.

Meanwhile, Australian Minister of Environment and Heritage David Kemp welcomed the result of the voting on the sanctuary proposal, saying it represented an increase in support for the motion as it was the largest majority that the proposal achieved.

Shimonoseki is hosting the IWC's general meeting through Friday.