Japan accused of trying to sabotage whaling summit

A British minister accused Japan of "going nuclear" in its efforts to sabotage an international conference on whaling yesterday, and insisted that there would be no compromise over Tokyo's efforts to legalise commercial hunting.

After a day of angry exchanges of a vehemence rarely seen in international organisations, Elliot Morley, the Fisheries minister, denounced Japan for blocking a proposal to allow the small-scale hunting of whales by indigenous people. He claimed the Japanese hosts were trying deliberately to undermine the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which is holding its annual meeting in the city of Shimonoseki.

"Japan is using the 'nuclear' option, and it is completely destroying the work of the IWC," Mr Morley said. "You've seen it – the time-wasting, the constant wrangling, the petty obstructions. These [indigenous] people would face starvation if they don't get their allocation [of whales]. This is the worst crisis the IWC's been in for many years."

Japan admitted it had no objection to the proposed aboriginal whaling quotas, and that its objections were intended to highlight a "double standard" at the IWC. On Tuesday, to Japan's fury, the commission rejected its request for a quota of 50 minke whales to be hunted commercially.

Last night the commission was adjourned for backroom discussions, with delegates desperately trying to reach a compromise before the close of the meeting tomorrow.

Seldom since the imposition of the 1986 ban on commercial whaling has the IWC plumbed the depths of acrimony, vituperation,and personal reproach seen this week. A the meeting yesterday, the leader of the Japanese delegation called the Mexican delegate a liar, the Norwegian commissioner accused Mr Morley of "Orwellian" tendencies, and the British minister brandished a packet of illegal whale blubber.

At the heart of the discussions is the disagreement between the anti-whaling bloc, led by Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the United States, and the pro-whaling faction led by Japan and Norway, with the support of small Caribbean countries. So far the anti- whaling group has won the most important votes. But Japan outmanoeuvred its opponents over the question of the aboriginal whale quotas.

Russia, America, Greenland and St Vincent and the Grenadines have permission for the killing of small numbers of whales for non-commercial consumption by indigenous people, and this year the quotas were up for renewal. Japan rejected all attempts to reach an informal consensus on the quotas for Russia and America. If the matter goes to a vote, Japan and its supporters among the small Caribbean nations may deny the motion the three- quarters majority that it needs to succeed.

Mr Morley said: "They are forcing the US and Russia either to inflict starvation on their own people, or to go outside the IWC. The problem is the bloc of [Caribbean] nations who basically do as Japan tells them."

The dispute over the aboriginal quotas almost ruined Britain's biggest contribution to the day's proceedings.

Last week, the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency discovered whale blubber on sale in Japanese supermarkets. It was labelled as having come from Greenland and Russia – a clear violation of agreements that ban the international trade in whale meat.

All afternoon the blubber sat in an ice-box under the table of the British delegation as Mr Morley waited for a moment to present it. After his intervention, the Norwegian delegate accused the British of advocating Orwellian "food police" to "monitor how food ends up in [people's] mouths". Mr Morley described the remark as disgraceful.