The whaling nations of Iceland and Japan are using Canada as a trans-shipment destination in the trade of meat from endangered fin whales — the same species that Canada has agreed internationally to protect.

Canada says it is helpless to stop the trade, even though it is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which in 1981 listed the fin and other endangered whales under Appendix 1 — the highest level of protection against commercial trade.

Iceland and Japan are also signatories to the convention but did not agree to the 1981 listing, which means they are legally permitted to trade in the whale’s meat and even to use Canada as a trans-shipment destination.

“When two countries do so, like Iceland and Japan have for fin whale, Canada has to allow shipments under customs control to transit provided they meet normal documentation and other requirements,” Environment Canada spokesperson Jirina Vlk said in a statement Wednesday to The Vancouver Sun.

“CITES clearly provides an exemption for shipments of CITES species in-transit through a country so long as such a shipment remains in customs control, that is, in bond or under seal.”

Norway also refused to support the CITES listing by entering what is known as a reservation.

News of Canada’s role in the commercial trade of endangered species comes as a shock both to politicians and environmentalists, including Greenpeace, which told The Sun that it received a tip more than a week ago about Iceland shipping 12 containers of whale meat to Halifax.

Greenpeace said they believe that the containers were then sent across Canada by rail to Metro Vancouver to be trans-shipped to Japan.

Sarah King, oceans campaign coordinator for Greenpeace, said it is “shocking” to think that the containers not just showed up in a Canadian port but were allowed to be shipped across the country.

“By allowing the transit of whale meat through the country, Canada is an accomplice ... The federal government must prohibit the transport of whale meat through Canadian ports.”

Vlk confirmed that Environment Canada inspected the shipment of whale meat under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act and even conducted DNA samples to confirm it was correctly labelled — and then sent it on its way because it lacked authority to do anything else.

“Since no infraction was found, these shipments of controlled goods were able to transit through Canada under seal, en route to another country, and were exempt from Canadian permitting requirements.”

Vlk said this is the first time that Canada has been involved in the trans-shipment of whale meat.

Canada’s Environment Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, declined The Sun’s request for an interview.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, said from Ottawa she is flabbergasted that Canada could invoke no law to prevent it from being implicated in the trade by “rogue nations” in an endangered species.

“That’s awful,” she continued. “When you go through the airports they have these wonderful display cases: ‘If you’re going abroad, don’t come back with tortoise shells’ ... but I guess if you want to buy a whole lot of endangered whale carcasses you can transport them, put them right through Canada.”