Japan will hold a working-level meeting in November with countries supporting whaling to discuss steps toward realizing the resumption of commercial whaling after talks on the matter ended without conclusion at the last International Whaling Commission session, the Fisheries Agency said Wednesday.
The government plans to call on about 40 states, including active whaling nations Norway and Iceland, to join the meeting slated for Nov. 9 and 10 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
The IWC's annual meeting held in June in Morocco ended in a decision to defer until next year a proposal presented by the IWC chairman and vice chairman that would effectively allow Japan and some other countries to resume commercial whaling under the commission's control.