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International Whaling Commission

Volume 708: debated on Wednesday 4 March 2009

Questions

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 28 January (WA 59), whether the options presented to the United Kingdom and other member nations of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in the non-paper “Chairs' suggestions on the Future of the IWC” on 2 February were produced in consultation with civil society representatives to allow input, comment and review prior to their distribution. [HL1630]

No, these suggestions were produced by the chairs of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the so-called Small Working Group (SWG) on their own initiative. Under the terms of the process agreed by the IWC for considering its future, the meetings and proceedings of the SWG and its subgroups are confidential, and not open to representatives of civil society. Civil society will, however, have an opportunity to comment and question the chairs' suggestions at the intersessional meeting of the IWC which will take place in Rome from 9 to 11 March.

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of the options presented for consideration to the United Kingdom and other member nations of the International Whaling Commission on 2 February would (a) legalise Japan's catches for up to five years in the Southern Ocean sanctuary; (b) legalise Japan's catches of coastal minke whales; and (c) legalise commercial hunting by Japan of minke whales, Bryde's whales, sei whales or sperm whales in the North Pacific Ocean. [HL1631]

Under the terms of Article VIII of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, Japan's lethal research takes of minke whales in the Southern Ocean and of minke, Bryde's, sei and sperm whales in the North Pacific are, regrettably, quite legal. Any decision by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to set quotas for North Pacific whale species (whether for highly localised use by the people of coastal communities in Japan who have a tradition of whaling, or for wider commercial use) would require to be framed as amendments to the schedule to the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, and could be brought into force only by a three-quarter majority vote of those present and voting at a recognised meeting of the IWC. The intersessional IWC meeting which will take place in Rome from 9 to 11 March has no power to make such decisions.

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the “Chairs' suggestions on the Future of the International Whaling Commission” paper proposes a solution that will end the large-scale unilateral catches currently issued under Special Permits by Japan or other countries such as Iceland. [HL1632]

The right of any contracting Government to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to issue special permits and to conduct lethal research whaling is enshrined in Article VIII of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW). The chairs' suggestions do not include any proposal to amend Article VIII. The extent to which current so-called scientific whaling may or may not be curtailed as a result of pursuing any of the options advanced in the chairs' paper will depend on the willingness of those Governments currently pursuing such operations to scale them back voluntarily, in exchange for other possible concessions. There would be no legal recourse for the IWC if such voluntary action were ever discontinued.

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the “Chairs' suggestions on the Future of the International Whaling Commission” paper contains a proposal that would require Japan to cease importing whale products from other countries including Iceland or Norway or from any other nation that issues special permits for its nationals to catch great whales. [HL1633]

No. Trade matters are within the competence of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and outside that of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling.

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Rome in March and the annual IWC meeting in Madeira in June the United Kingdom will oppose and vote against any options that defer resolution of urgent issues. [HL1634]

At the intersessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Rome in March, the UK delegation will seek to explore whether any of the options suggested by the chairs in their paper could possibly be viable, viability being considered against the requirements that they are achievable and would guarantee in the long term a significant reduction in the number of whales hunted and killed. At the annual meeting in Madeira, the UK would not support the adoption of any measure which it considered prejudicial to the conservation of whales.

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Rome in March and the annual IWC meeting in Madeira in June the United Kingdom will vote against options contained in the “Chairs' suggestions on the Future of the International Whaling Commission” paper that would legalise catches of whales either in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary or in the North Pacific Ocean to ensure such options are not agreed either by consensus or through an abstention by the United Kingdom. [HL1635]

Save through an amendment to Article VIII of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (which would probably require the convening of a formal diplomatic conference to adopt it and subsequent ratification by all parties to bring it into effect), the International Whaling Commission has no power to alter the legal status of whaling under special permit. The UK could agree to the legalisation of other forms of whaling only if it was convinced that by doing so it would bring about a significant improvement of whale conservation in the long term.

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will urge other European Union nations that are members of the International Whaling Commission to oppose and vote against any of the options that would legalise whale catchers in the Southern Ocean sanctuary or the North Pacific Ocean that were included in the non-paper Chairs' suggestions on the Future of the IWC presented to the United Kingdom and other member nations of the Commission on 2 February. [HL1660]

The options included in the chairs' suggestions on the future of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) are not sufficiently clear to enable a definitive evaluation of them to be made. At the intersessional meeting of the IWC, the UK will seek to probe their meaning and determine whether there is any likelihood that they could subsequently be framed as amendments to the schedule to the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling which could command support. In so far as options are worked up into amendments (which will not be up for consideration until the annual meeting of the IWC in June), the UK will certainly urge those EU member states which are also members of the IWC to oppose and vote against any measures, the adoption of which would not guarantee a significant improvement in the conservation status of whales in the long term.