Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and restart commercial hunting for whales as it becomes the latest country to quit a body that limited its sovereignty.
Starting from July next year, when its withdrawal becomes effective, Japan will cease “research hunts” in the Antarctic and resume commercial whaling in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, said chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga.
The withdrawal will render the IWC irrelevant, with the main pro-whaling states all outside it and ignoring its decisions, as countries increasingly refuse to be bound by international decisions with which they disagree.