U.S. animal rights group starts new Japan whale case

November 17, 2000
Web posted at: 7:48 AM HKT (2348 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Concerned that President Bill Clinton may not impose sanctions against Japan in a dispute over whaling, the U.S. Humane Society initiated action on Thursday to try to keep the issue on the agenda when the new U.S. president takes office next year.

Arguing sanctions may be the only way of stopping Japan, the Humane Society said it had asked U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to certify that Japan's whaling activities undermined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international agreement that governs trade in endangered species.

The animal protection group hopes beginning that process will keep the issue on the agenda after the new U.S. president takes office on January 22, Block said.

In a meeting earlier in the day with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, Clinton urged Japan to reduce its controversial program to kill hundreds of whales each year.

But he stopped short of announcing economic sanctions against Japan, as administration officials threatened he might do two months ago when U.S. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta certified that Japan's expanded whale hunt this year undermined conservation efforts of the International Whaling Commission.

"I'm glad he mentioned it," Kitty Block, the Humane Society's special counsel for international affairs, said referring to Clinton raising the issue with Mori at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Brunei.

But she added "Japan is not going to do right thing in this case. They've made it very clear that they're not going to do the right thing."

That could be because the United States has a history of threatening economic sanctions against Japan without following through, Block said.

Under U.S. law, Mineta's certification triggered a 60-day review process that ended on Monday for Clinton to decide whether to impose economic sanctions on Japan.

Although Clinton raised the whaling issue with Mori, he has not said yet whether the United States will take any additional steps. He is required to outline his decision in a report to Congress that still could be issued in the next several days, U.S. officials said.

In September, Clinton denied Japan future access to fishing rights in U.S. waters after Tokyo expanded its annual whale hunt to include two additional species of whales.

Japan defends its whale hunts as scientific research.

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