§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission; and if she will make a statement. [131941
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§ Mr. BradshawThe IWC has to operate within the terms of its parent treaty (the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling), which dates from 1946. Within the very real constraints of that treaty (which aims to facilitate the orderly development of the whaling industry and which also provides for unregulated whaling under "Special Permit" for scientific purposes), the IWC has done well to introduce and maintain, for almost 20 years, a moratorium on commercial whaling, to which all members, except Norway, subscribe. Changes to the terms of the parent treaty require the unanimous agreement of all; there is thus no prospect of securing desirable change while keeping pro-whaling countries within the ambit of the treaty.