US urges Norway, Iceland to end whale meat exports

WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday urged Iceland and Norway to cease exporting whale meat to Japan, which they have resumed for the first time since the early 1990s despite a United Nations ban.

"The United States is deeply disappointed in the reports of recent shipments of whale meat to Japanese commercial markets from Iceland and Norway," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said.

The Icelandic whaling company Hvalur said this week Iceland had sent 80 tonnes of fin whale meat caught in the 2006 season while Norway had exported five tonnes of minke whale meat to Japan.

The two Nordic nations do not recognize a ban on the trade by the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Many countries and environmental groups oppose the sale of whale meat, saying animal numbers are low. However, Norway and Iceland argue that whales are plentiful in the North Atlantic and do not need protection.

While the International Whaling Commission did not directly control international trade in whale products, Cooper said the unilateral actions of these three countries undermined the goodwill of the body.

All three nations belong to the IWC, which issued a moratorium on commercial whaling two decades ago.

"We call on the parties involved to reconsider this decision (to export whale meat) and focus on the overarching principles of the commission (IWC) in the long term, rather than the short term," said Cooper.

The IWC, whose goal is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks, is set to meet in China this month for its annual conference to discuss the future of conservation and management of the marine mammal.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Iceland last week and a U.S. official said the issue of whaling was on the agenda. (Reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by Eric Walsh)