Anti-whaling group wants sanctions

Press, 25 September 1987, Page 6

Anti-whaling group wants sanctions

NZPA-Reuter Washington

The environmental group, Greenpeace, said on Wednesday that it would re-open its lawsuit to force the United States to invoke trade sanctions against Japan for its plans to resume commercial whaling. Greenpeace said its decision was based on Japan’s plans to go to the Antarctic in October •to start a 10-year effort to take 825 minke whales and 50 sperm whales for “scientific purposes.”

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has declared the minke and sperm depleted species and in 1986 approved a moratorium on all commercial whaling, except for scientific purposes. Greenpeace’s wildlife

legislative director, Dean Wilkinson, said that Japan’s “scientific” operations. were a guise for commercial whaling.

He said in a statement announcing the re-open-ing of the suit that “Japan’s behaviour is an affront to both the Government of the United States and prevalent world opinion. It can no longer be tolerated.”

The suit would force the Commerce Department to certify Japan in violation ,of the IWC, the first step toward restricting imports of Japanese fish products.

Under United States law, the department must invoke the sanctions and restrict imports from any country that breaks a world-wide conservation treaty.