§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to the letter from the Parliamentary Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), ref 123733, on Japanese whaling, if he will make a statement on the bilateral meeting with Japanese officials held on 8 February. [72895]
§ Mr. MorleyWhaling was only one of the issues discussed at the meeting in question; a large number of other environmental issues were discussed. The UK delegation made clear the UK's opposition to Japan's whaling activities, stressing in particular, our disappointment that Japan continues to whale under special permit and to ignore all IWC calls to halt scientific whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. We emphasised that the UK view does not consider that there is any scientific justification for Japanese scientific whaling and called upon Japan to restructure its research programmes so that its objectives could be achieved by non-lethal means. We also drew attention to the fact that the UK was not alone in expressing these views; a large majority of IWC members have also made clear their opposition to Japanese scientific whaling. Japan reiterated its formal position on this issue. I can assure my hon. Friend that we shall continue to raise this issue with Japan at every appropriate opportunity.