Then U.S. President Bill Clinton's decision rejecting import sanctions against Japan for expanding its whale research programs in the Northwest Pacific was conveyed to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate in a letter dated Dec. 29, 2000. It concerned the September certification by the secretary of commerce that Japan's whale research activities "diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission's conservation program."
The president's decision clearly demonstrates that his administration's policy on whaling issues was perversely influenced by extreme anti-whaling organizations and badly out of step with reality since only from such a perspective can the small number of whales Japan takes for research purposes from abundant stocks be seen as diminishing the effectiveness of the IWC. In fact, whales have been saved and there is no need for insisting on total protection of whales for conservation reasons. Further, since Japan's actions are perfectly legal under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, trade sanctions are unwarranted and could have been easily challenged by Japan under WTO rules.
Clinton's decision contradicts the rhetoric of former Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta, who referred to Japan's whale research program as "absurd," and the misinformed statement of former U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, who incorrectly called Japan's research catch of whales a "contravention of its international obligations."