Call for US whaling sanctions on Iceland
Photo: Ómar Óskarsson
A total of 23 animal-welfare organisations have sent a joint letter to US President Barack Obama urging him to impose sanctions on Iceland for its whaling activities.
“Specifically, the undersigned organizations requested [in May 2015] that your administration immediately impose targeted economic trade sanctions on Icelandic companies linked to whaling,” reads the letter.
The signatories to the letter, all members of the Whales Need US (WNUS) coalition “appreciate the heightened diplomatic measures taken against Iceland under [Obama’s] 2011 and 2014 directives” but feel more needs to be done.
They refer specifically to a recent consignment of over 1,700 tonnes of whale meat leaving Iceland for Japan, reported on by Iceland Monitor earlier this month.
In conclusion, President Obama is urged to “immediately impose more substantive measures […], including the imposition of targeted trade sanctions against companies in Iceland with ties to the whaling industry […], until such time as Iceland ceases its commercial whaling program and international commercial trade in whale products”.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
