*EPF203 01/02/01
Text: Commerce Secretary Mineta Praises Report on Japanese Whaling
(December 29 Commerce Department news release) (340)

Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta praised President Clinton's report to Congress on Japan's whale hunting December 29.

In a Commerce Department news release that day, Mineta said Japan's whale hunting, purportedly for research, "undermines the conservation program of the International Whaling Commission (IWC)."

Japan, Mineta went on to say, must realize "that it cannot continue to ignore the opinion of an overwhelming majority of IWC nations without consequences."

The IWC is the global authority for protecting whales.

Mineta expressed his concern for what he termed Japan's "persistence in its expanded lethal research program in the North Pacific."

Following is the text of the news release:

(begin text)

COMMERCE NEWS

For Immediate Release
December 29, 2000

Commerce Secretary Mineta
Applauded President's Report to Congress
on Japanese Whaling

Commerce Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today applauded President Clinton's report to Congress on Japan's ongoing whaling program. The report is pursuant to the Secretary's September 13, 2000 finding under the Pelly Amendment that Japan's research whale hunt undermines the conservation program of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the global authority for protecting whales.

Saying he was pleased by the contents of the President's report to Congress, Secretary Mineta added, "I am encouraged that Japan has shown a recent willingness to discuss its research whaling program. However, I share the President's concerns regarding Japan's persistence in its expanded lethal research program in the North Pacific. This defiance of international consensus justifies the further action under the Pelly Amendment outlined by the President."

Mineta went on to say, "I believe our objectives can best be achieved at this time by continuing to work with Japan bilaterally and multilaterally to resolve the issue. But, Japan must realize that it cannot continue to ignore the opinion of an overwhelming majority of IWC nations without consequences."

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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