(from "Chairman's Report of the Fortieth Annual Meeting")

A discussion was held about the operation of the 1946 Convention, how the operation of the Convention could be improved and whether the Convention should be revised.

A number of concerns about the 1946 Convention were expressed relating to its objects and purpose and scope of application; the lack of definition of major terms; membership in the IWC, in particular, the need for parity of interest and involvement in whaling among member states; the need for greater consensus in IWC decision making; the need for improvements in the operation of the Scientific Committee; the relative interests of coastal states and the IWC in whale management; and the lack of provisions on the responsibilities of contracting parties and dispute settlement mechanisms.

Several delegations stated that, due to changed circumstances, the Convention needed to be revised; the Convention was not infinitely flexible since international law imposes limits on ways in which treaties may be interpreted. The suggestion was made to revise the Convention to focus on the conservation and study of whales, rather than the regulation of whaling.

Other delegations expressed satisfaction with the current Convention, noting that it had demonstrated its flexibility to take account of new circumstances and problems. They observed that, to the extent changes were needed, these could generally be accomplished by changes in the Schedule to the Convention, and questioned the need for revising the Convention at the present time, if at all.

Other delegations indicated that their governments did not yet have a clear view on the need for a revision.

In order to guide its work, the Working Group developed a list of questions, which was neither exhaustive nor exclusive, nor implied that revision of the Convention is deemed necessary, but was to be understood as a list of concerns and questions voiced for discussion purposes. Following a general discussion of these questions, the Working Group agreed that sufficient progress had been made to submit its report to the Commission so that the Commission could decide how best to proceed with this matter.

In the Commission, Argentina proposed that the Working Group should convene again immediately before the 41st Annual Meeting and report to that meeting; that Contracting Governments should be invited to send comments or proposals based on the list of questions contained in the report of the Working Group to the Secretary by 31 January 1989 for circulation in advance of the next meeting of the Working Group; and that a Draft Resolution from the USSR should be held over for possible consideration at the next Annual Meeting.

Brazil, Iceland, Australia, Japan, Norway, Mexico, the Netherlands and Oman all spoke in support of this proposal, which was then agreed. Commissioner Iglesias (Argentina) was asked to convene the next meeting of the Working Group.

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