Next month, the European Union will vote on imposing a 7.7 per cent tariff on "jojoba esters", botanical ingredients used in cosmetics.

Meanwhile, the tariff on spermaceti, a derivative of whale blubber, which is virtually identical to jojoba esters, will remain at zero.

If the jojoba tariff is adopted, it will create an incentive for the cosmetics industry to use spermaceti. This will increase pressure to overturn the whaling moratorium and the ban on trade in whale products.

With demand for whale meat falling everywhere, the whaling industry cannot be unaware of this potential opportunity to diversify its markets and maximise profits from blubber.

Today, blubber is a waste product of Norway's whaling, unwanted and dumped at sea - but a market for spermaceti could revitalise Norway's and other whaling industries.

Whales could once again be hunted for their blubber, a devastating step backwards to the 20th Century when species after species of whale was driven to the brink of extinction.

The whales need your help.

Help stop the jojoba tariff.

More information can be found on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society website at www.wdcs.org.

  • David Hammond, North Court, Hassocks