Fact sheet: Trade in whale products  In January 2001, Norway announced its decision to resume international trade in minke whale products. Since 1987, there has been no export of whale products from Norway. The main market will be Japan. The export ban has resulted in 600 tonnes of blubber being stockpiled as the Norwegians do not have a palate for blubber (the fat). The Norwegians consume only the whale meat. The trade will be controlled through an unprecedented DNA scheme. This scheme includes the DNA fingerprint from each minke whale hunted. These DNA profiles will be entered into a database. This means that any whale product in the market can be DNA tested, and its origin traced in the database.  This will ensure that the products in the marketplace are caught and traded legally. Trade will mean full use of the hunted whales and stop the waste. For years, much of the blubber has simply been thrown out at sea. With prospects for export, the blubber prices paid to the whalers have rocketed. Last year, the whalers were paid 3 NOK (£0.25) per kilo of blubber. This year the most choice parts of blubber have reached 90 NOK (£6.6), with an average of about 40 NOK (£3) per kilo. The price paid for the meat is about the same, 30 NOK (£2.2) per kilo. The Arctic and sub-Arctic regions are very rich in marine resources, but poor in other resources such as grain. Therefore, trade in goods, including whale products, has taken place for centuries. This continues today with the majority of seafood caught being exported. A condition for an economic activity to take place is access to markets. It is therefore no surprise that the fight over trade constitutes one of the most important confrontations in the whaling conflict. The trade is legal, and in accordance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES has a general ban on international trade in minke whale products as the minke whale is listed as “threatened with extinction”. However, CITES recognises that scientifically speaking, the minke whale is not threatened, but keeps it on that list for political reasons. Iceland, Japan, Norway and Peru hold reservations to this decision, i.e. they are allowed by CITES to engage in international trade in minke whale products. Export from Norway will only be allowed to countries that are allowed by CITES to import minke whale products, i.e. those countries that hold a reservation to the trade ban and those countries that are not members to CITES. At the two last CITES-meetings in 2000 and 1997, a majority supported Norway’s proposal to take the North Atlantic minke whales off the “threatened with extinction” list. But the proposals were not carried as they failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority.