§ Mrs. BrintonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress with international agreements on whaling. [1534]
§ Mr. MorleyThe next meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is to take place from 23–27 July in London. We shall take this opportunity to reaffirm our opposition to all forms of whaling other than some subsistence whaling by indigenous people. We shall also resist any attempts by those in support of a resumption of commercial whaling to lift the current moratorium. There will be further discussion on the Revised Management Scheme, welfare aspects of whaling killing, Whale Sanctuaries in the South Pacific and South Atlantic and on whale stocks.
The Government will be making a statement shortly on the line we propose to take at the IWC meeting.