Greenpeace briefing
Publication date: March 2000
Summary
Japan and Norway, the only two countries still killing whales in defiance of the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling, have set their sights on reopening the trade in whale meat.
At the 11 th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which takes place in Nairobi from the 10 th to the 20 th April, Japan and Norway are proposing that certain populations of whale have their protected status removed by 'downlisting' them from Appendix I of the convention to Appendix II. In addition, Japan has put forward a resolution that would sever the historic links between CITES and the IWC, links which have been forged in recognition of the IWC's special expertise on whales and its status as the body recognised in UNCLOS and UNCED as "responsible for the conservation and management of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling."