Japan withdraws from International Whaling Commission

[nitpicker]

https://www.dw.com/en/japan-withdraws-from-international-whaling-commission/a-46863848

Japan withdraws from International Whaling Commission

Date 26.12.2018

Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), a government spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. The move sets the stage for Japan to resume commercial whaling activities next year.
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Suga said Japan would communicate its decision to the IWC by the end of the year. As such, the withdrawal will come into effect by June 30, 2019.

The Japanese government had tried to persuade the IWC to allow its commercial whaling, but the international organization rejected the bid in September. As a result, it was expected that Tokyo would end its membership with the IWC. With its IWC exit, Japan now joins Iceland and Norway in openly defying the organization's ban on commercial whale hunting.
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Sam Annesley, executive director at Greenpeace Japan, decried the IWC withdrawal. "It's clear that the government is trying to sneak in this announcement at the end of year, away from the spotlight of international media, but the world sees this for what it is," Annesley said in a statement.

"The declaration today is out of step with the international community, let alone the protection needed to safeguard the future of our oceans and these majestic creatures. The government of Japan must urgently act to conserve marine ecosystems, rather than resume commercial whaling," he added.
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[Eugene]

1. Japan confirms it will quit IWC to resume commercial whaling

Source: The Guardian

Japan confirms it will quit IWC to resume commercial whaling

Japan will resume hunting in its waters in July but will end controversial expeditions to the Southern ocean

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Wed 26 Dec 2018 03.17 GMT

Japan is facing international condemnation after confirming it will resuming commercial whaling for the first time in more than 30 years.

The country’s fleet will resume commercial operations in July next 2019, the government’s chief spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said of the decision to defy the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling.

Suga told reporters the country’s fleet would confine its hunts to Japanese territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, adding that its controversial annual expeditions to the Southern Ocean – a major source of diplomatic friction between Tokyo and Canberra – would end.

He said Japan would officially inform the IWC of its decision by the end of the year, which will mean the withdrawal comes into effect by 30 June.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/26/japan-confirms-it-will-quit-iwc-to-resume-commercial-whaling