REPLY FROM SECRETARY CLINTON TO FOREIGN

UNCLAS STATE 124245 SIPDIS COMMERCE PASS TO NOAA WHITE HOUSE PASS TO CEQ E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC PREL SENV IWC SUBJECT: REPLY FROM SECRETARY CLINTON TO FOREIGN MINISTER MCCULLY (S/ES 200921133) ¶1. (U) Please deliver the following message from Secretary Clinton to New Zealand Foreign Minister McCully. There will be no signed original. ¶2. (U) BEGIN TEXT: Dear Mr. Minister: Thank you for your letter regarding whale conservation and the current diplomatic process to resolve differences within the International Whaling Commission (IWC). As referenced in your letter, New Zealand and the United States are working closely together in these negotiations. The United States especially appreciates the leadership role New Zealand?s IWC Commissioner Sir Geoffrey Palmer has played within the small group of countries selected by the chair of the commission to develop a potential solution to this highly controversial issue. His efforts, and those of New Zealand, have been exemplary. We are encouraged at the prospect of an agreement that would prohibit any member of the IWC from unilaterally authorizing the lethal take of whales. This plan would allow a limited number of whales to be harvested by a very small number of countries and would bring all forms of whaling under the control of the commission, a long- standing goal of many nations, including the United States and New Zealand. We continue to engage with the Japanese government on this issue; I have just sent a letter to Foreign Minister Okada to urge resolution. The United States looks forward to working with your government this month in Seattle to develop a diplomatic solution that is acceptable to all IWC member governments. Sincerely yours, Hillary Rodham Clinton CLINTON