February 13, 2014 — The whaling nations of Iceland and Japan are using Canada as a trans-shipment destination in the trade of meat from endangered fin whales — the same species that Canada has agreed internationally to protect.
Canada says it is helpless to stop the trade, even though it is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which in 1981 listed the fin and other endangered whales under Appendix 1 — the highest level of protection against commercial trade.
Iceland and Japan are also signatories to the convention but did not agree to the 1981 listing, which means they are legally permitted to trade in the whale’s meat and even to use Canada as a trans-shipment destination.
“When two countries do so, like Iceland and Japan have for fin whale, Canada has to allow shipments under customs control to transit provided they meet normal documentation and other requirements,” Environment Canada spokesperson Jirina Vlk said in a statement Wednesday to The Vancouver Sun.
“CITES clearly provides an exemption for shipments of CITES species in-transit through a country so long as such a shipment remains in customs control, that is, in bond or under seal.”
Norway also refused to support the CITES listing by entering what is known as a reservation.
Read the full story at The Vancouver Sun