Debate in the IWC The most vocal opponents of the Japanese push for a resumption of commercial whaling are Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The Australian government's stated purpose for opposing whaling is the need for conservation of endangered species. The New Zealand government is opposed to hunting whales for food or research and the UK government believes "that whaling does not serve any genuine need and involves unacceptable cruelty." In July 2004, it was reported that a working group of the Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic had drawn up plans to leave the IWC in order to join a new pro-whaling organization, NAMMCO, because of the IWC's refusal to back the principle of sustainable commercial whaling. Japan is particularly opposed to the IWC Conservation Committee, introduced in 2003, which it says exists solely to prevent any whaling. Any directives from the IWC are undertaken on a purely voluntary basis as state sovereignty means that there are few avenues by which international law can be enforced. At an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in 2006, a resolution calling for the eventual return of commercial whaling was passed by a majority of just one vote. There has been a failure to lift the ban on commercial whale hunting and Japan has since threatened to leave the IWC until the whaling moratorium has ended. In 2007 the IWC passed a resolution asking Japan to refrain from issuing a permit for lethal research in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary – the main Japanese whaling area. After a visit to Tokyo by the chairman of the IWC, asking the Japanese for their co-operation in sorting out the differences between pro- and anti-whaling nations on the Commission, the Japanese whaling fleet agreed that no humpback whales would be caught for the two years it would take for the IWC to reach a formal agreement. On March 31, 2014, the ICJ ruled that "Japan must revoke any extant authorization, permit or licence to kill, take or treat whales" in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and refrain from granting any further permits. Following that ruling, Japan proposed to launch a "reviewed" research hunt. In response, the IWC voted and concluded on September 18, 2014 that "Japan should abide by an International Court of Justice ruling", but Japanese officials vowed to continue whale hunting in the Antarctic in 2015. Australian opposition Due to the proximity to Antarctica,