noted above, the Soviet Union announced at the opening of the 



1985 IWC meeting that it would suspend commercial whaling 

 activity for technical reasons, beginning in 1988. 



In the spring of 1986, the Government of Norway issued 

 permits to its coastal fishermen to take minke whales in the 

 northeast Atlantic. In doing so, it exercised rights 

 preserved by its formal objection to the moratorium on 

 commercial whaling, which had been adopted by the IWC and 

 which took effect beginning with the 1986 coastal whaling 

 season. Early in June 1986, the U.S. learned that Norwegian 

 whalers had taken minke whales under those permits. There- 

 fore, pursuant to provisions of the Pelly Amendment, the 

 Secretary of Commerce certified to the President on 9 June 



1986 that Norwegian nationals were conducting fishing 

 operations in a manner which was diminishing the effective- 

 ness of the IWC. At the same time, the Secretary recommended 

 that the Secretary of State advise Norway of the certifi- 

 cation. 



As indicated above, Pelly Amendment sanctions may be 

 invoked to prohibit the importation of all fish products from 

 any nation so certified. As recommended by the Secretary of 

 Commerce, Norway was advised of the U.S. certification 

 action. Subsequently, on 3 July 1986, the Government of 

 Norway announced that it would suspend commercial whaling 

 after the 1987 whaling season and that the total 1987 

 domestic quota would be less than the total of 400 whales 

 allowed to be killed in 1986. In making this announcement, 

 the Government of Norway expressed its intention to phase out 

 commercial whaling in a manner which parallels the course of 

 action agreed to by the U.S. and Japan for Japanese whaling 

 (see discussion below) . It differs, however, in that 

 Norway's announcement lacks a formal commitment to the IWC in 

 the form of a prospective withdrawal of its objection to the 

 moratorium provision. 



The Pelly Amendment requires that, within 60 days of 

 receiving a certification finding from the Secretary, the 

 President must notify Congress of actions taken in response 

 to the certification, including the reasons for any action 

 that falls short of a complete prohibition of the importation 

 of fish products from that country. Accordingly, after 

 considering Norway's announcement, the President submitted a 

 report to Congress on 4 August 1986 indicating that he would 

 impose no sanctions. This decision was made on the premise 

 that Norway will not allow the resumption of commercial 

 whaling after 1987 unless the IWC takes affirmative action to 

 authorize such a resumption. The report also said that the 

 Secretary of Commerce would continue his certification of 

 Norway until Norway withdraws its objection to the moratorium 

 and that the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of 



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