The US President Bill Clinton has decided not to impose trade sanctions against Japan for expanding its whaling programme to include sperm and Bryde's whales.

In a letter to the Congress (29 December), Clinton says "I do not believe that import prohibitions would further our objectives at this time," while stressing that he remains both "very concerned" and "deeply concerned". Clinton informs also that he has "personally intervened with Prime Minister Mori" of Japan, without adding further details.

The President thus turned down the advice of last September by the US Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta to impose sanctions.

The US has formally threatened trade sanctions on whaling countries more than 10 times, but each time it has backed down. 

US farm and agribusiness groups were worried that imposing sanctions could damage sales to their most important agricultural export market, Japan.

In a letter to President Clinton in October, 19 agricultural organisations, including the US Grains Council and the US Meat Export Federation, said that: "Our industries are opposed to the use of unilateral export trade sanctions". 

The agricultural organisations pointed out that "Given WTO rulings against the US on similar cases in the past, the US appears vulnerable to WTO rules, if challenged. At the very least, US trade actions against Japan over this issue would be harmful to US/Japanese trade relations. (...) In sum, years of work to cultivate Japan as a buyer of US agricultural exports could be severely set back and without any benefit to the original goals of the US action."

"The Clinton decision was as expected. These threats are empty threats, and should be dealt with accordingly. Nations engaged in fully legal and sustainable whale catches, or aspiring to be, have no reason to be afraid," says Rune Frovik of the High North Alliance.

"This has become a ritual. Its intention is to satisfy a little but vocal group of whale huggers on the domestic American political market. That's why the tone of the Clinton letter is rather tough, while the conclusion is soft as silk. It's high time for the US to stop this inappropriate, impolite and rude practice. And instead focus its resources on constructive participation in the management of hunting this valuable resource in accordance with its international obligations and internationally recognised principles," adds Frovik.