Japan On Brink Of IWC Pullout After Commercial Whaling Comeback Blocked

Florianopolis, Brazil, Sept 15 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Sep, 2018 ) :Japan's determined bid to return to commercial whale hunting was rejected by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Friday in a tense vote that left the 72-year old organization at a crossroads.

Japan's vice-minister for fisheries Masaaki Taniai said he "regretted" the vote's outcome, and threatened Tokyo's withdrawal from the 89-member body if progress could not be made towards a return to commercial whaling.

"If scientific evidence and diversity is not respected, if commercial whaling is completely denied... Japan will be pressed to undertake a fundamental reassessment of its position as a member of the IWC," he said.

Japan's IWC commissioner Joji Morishita declined to comment when asked if this would be Japan's last appearance at the IWC, an organization which he has chaired for the past two years.

His term ended Friday.

Minutes after the meeting he told AFP that differences with anti-whaling nations were "very clear" and Japan would now plan it's "next steps".

Anti-whaling nations led by Australia, the European Union and the United States, defeated Japan's "Way Forward" proposal in a 41 to 27 vote.

Japan had sought consensus for its plan but had been forced to push the proposal to a vote "to demonstrate the resounding voices of support" for a return to sustainable whaling for profit, said Taniai.

Pacific and Caribbean island nations as well as Nicaragua and several African countries, including Morocco, Kenya and Tanzania, voted with Japan, as did Asian nations Laos and Cambodia. Korea abstained.