2 24 The United States had announced at the International Whaling
Conference held in London on 2 February 1944165 that immediately after the
war it would convene a comprehensive international conference on whaling
in Washington D C 166 That Conference was held from 20 November to 2
December 1946, and was attended by delegates of fourteen States and
observers from five167 Speaking about the task for the Conference, Dean
Acheson, Acting Secretary of State of the United States, said at the Opening
Session:
“The work of this Conference is (1) to provide for the coordination
and the codification of existing regulations and (2) the
establishment of an effective administrative machinery for the
modification of these regulations from time to time as conditions
may in the future require.”