RECALLING the Resolutions passed in 1994 at the IWC meeting (IWC Res. 1994-7) and at the Ninth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (Conf. 9.12) on the prevention of illegal trade in whale meat;
WELCOMING the cooperation between the IWC and CITES to address the concern that any illegal trade in whale meat undermines the effectiveness of both the IWC and CITES;
NOTING that, as a follow-on to the 1994 CITES and IWC Resolutions, some interested countries attended an informal meeting on control of trade in whale products, hosted by Japan in April 1995;
ACKNOWLEDGING that the 1986 IWC commercial moratorium and the strict CITES mechanisms to control international trade in whale meat and products do not prevent countries from selling whale meat in domestic markets from legitimate sources (such as whale meat imported prior to the CITES listing date, whale meat obtained from stockpiles in existence before the IWC moratorium, or from research whaling) and that such internal trade makes illegal commerce in whale meat more difficult to control;
RECOGNISING that countries have the right, subject to their obligations under international agreements, to control the domestic distribution and sale of whale meat obtained in accordance with their own laws;
NOTING that, at its Annual Meeting in 1994, the Commission resolved that the products of research whaling should be "utilised entirely for domestic consumption";
WELCOMING steps that some governments have taken to examine the use of techniques such as DNA analysis to identify by species the origin of whale meat on domestic markets;
NOW THEREFORE the International Whaling Commission:
CALLS FOR all governments or other entities with a history of whaling to determine whether they have any remaining stockpiles of whale meat;
CALLS FOR all governments or other entities with stockpiles of whale meat to report to the 48th Annual Meeting of the Commission and annually thereafter on: - the volume of such stockpiles; - domestic laws governing the possession and sale of whale meat, including inter alia provisions to identify the existence and sale of whale meat from stockpiles or other legitimate sources; - all enforcement actions taken with respect to whale meat illegally obtained and/or sold; URGES any government or other entity with a stockpile of whale meat, taken domestically prior to the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling or imported any time before or after that date, to encourage: - better monitoring of stockpiled meat (such as by establishing a registration system in which all stockpiled whale meat is registered and all sales are reported on a timely basis); and - - its disposal domestically in the near future;
ENCOURAGES governments or other entities to develop mechanisms using DNA or isozyme analysis to randomly sample and identify whale meat in their market places by species and FURTHER to prohibit the sale of meat from all whales that could not have been taken nor acquired in accordance with ICRW and CITES provisions; and
REQUESTS that the IWC Secretariat forward to the CITES Secretariat this Resolution, the report of the Infractions Sub-Committee, and submissions from governments and other entities in response to this Resolution