In conjunction with the 3rd General Assembly Meeting of the World Council of Whalers (WCW) held in Nelson, New Zealand in November 2000, the first formal meeting of the Sustainable Use Parliamentarians Union (SUPU) was held. Chaired by U.S. Congressman Richard Pombo from California, SUPU outlined its goals and objectives for "education and communication with elected legislators who support the concept of sustainable use of renewable resources for the benefit on the environment and man."

Vice Chairmen of SUPU currently included Senator Charles Watt of Canada; Honourable Cassis Elias, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in St. Lucia; Parliamentarian Steiner Bastesen of Norway and Parliamentarian Johan Lund Olsen of Greenland. A Vice-Chairman from Japan will also be selected shortly.

"It is the belief of SUPU that the more educated elected representatives are on issues regarding sustainable use of renewable resources, the more effective and informed their respective government delegations will be at international conferences on those subjects," commented Congressman Pombo. "Too often, elected representatives do not have sufficient information to influence their government national policy on these issues. It is the purpose of SUPU to alter that situation."

Congressman Pombo has been the representative of the U.S. Congress at the last two Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). At COP 11 held in Nairobi, Kenya in the spring of 2000, the organisational meeting of SUPU took place.

It is the intention of SUPU to solicit membership from members of national legislative bodies throughout the world.

"SUPU will be a effective body to assist governments in making informed decisions," continued Congressman Pombo. "Sound scientific information must be the benchmark of environmental policy and not a misguided emotional political agenda fostered by many Non-Governmental Organisations on governments. It will be the objective of SUPU to make that information available to legislators so they will be informed and, therefore, prepared to properly influence their governments on such issues."

Congressman Pombo also indicated that SUPU is intending to hold a conference in Washington, DC in 2002 for its members to "fully explore the many issues regarding sustainable use of renewable resources that significantly impact cultures, food security, economies and the environment."