I have recently written again to the Environment Ministers of all European Union (EU) member states that are not currently members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and to those seeking accession to the EU, to encourage support for the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling, and for the United Kingdom’s policies on whaling. Furthermore, I also raised the issue of IWC membership at the recent Environment Council meeting in Luxembourg.
DEFRA officials also ensure that Foreign and Commonwealth Office posts in the relevant capitals are briefed, and engage in discussion with their counterparts on whaling at every appropriate opportunity. This ensures that these countries are in no doubt of the importance that the UK places on whale conservation.
We shall continue to encourage more conservation- minded countries to join the IWC as soon as possible, in order to reverse the pro-whaling majority.
The UK and its allies have taken every opportunity to try to persuade new anti-whaling countries to join the IWC, with some success: six have joined in the last two years.
I have written to the Cypriot Government, and to all the other member states of the European Union that are not yet members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), urging them to join the IWC, stressing the importance of their membership.
I am pleased to say that I received a reply from my counterpart in Cyprus. He has assured me of Cyprus' commitment to conservation issues and that the Cypriot Government is looking to join the IWC in the near future. The British Embassy in Nicosia is fully engaged in supporting the Cypriot Government in this step.