‘Make dolphin killing a breaking point during the Japan trade mission’

Marianne Thieme is calling on the cabinet to call Japan to account during the trade mission for its whale and dolphin slaughters and to make it a breaking point during the negotiations on the free trade agreement with Japan. Thieme asked Parliamentary Questions on this.

Japan already killed 333 whales this year, of which 200 were pregnant. The controversial dolphin slaughters that take place in Taiji every year have recently started. A Dutch trade mission will take place in Japan from 18 to 22 October next. Party chairman Marianne Thieme (Party for the Animals) is calling on the cabinet by Parliamentary Questions to make the whale slaughters a breaking point of the economic negotiations.

Thieme: “Trade interests should never be more important than standards and values. The Netherlands will have to make clear during the trade mission in Japan that whale hunting and dolphin slaughters are incompatible with a future trade relationship.”

The European Parliament recently linked the end of the Japanese whale hunt to the negotiations that the EU is currently conducting with Japan on a strategic partnership agreement and free trade agreement.