A spokesman for the Japanese delegation at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) also lashed out at green groups, accusing them of spreading lies and manipulating public opinion.

"Japan has compromised," said spokesman Glenn Inwood in an interview. "Anti-whaling countries have offered nothing. If this process is going to survive, it requires compromise from both sides."

The 88-member IWC is debating a proposal that would suspend a 24-year moratorium on commercial whaling for ten years in return for progressive cuts over that period in the number of whales killed.

Iceland, Norway and Japan have used legal loopholes to flout the 1986 ban, harvesting more than 1,500 of the marine mammals in the 2008-2009 season alone.

The proposal leaves open the status of the moratorium after 2020.

Japan has said it would give up the right to invoke the opt-out clauses in the nearly 60-year old whaling convention which have allowed Norway and Iceland to continue whaling despite the 1986 ban while still remaining in the IWC.

Japan's hunting is conducted under the guise of "scientific research".

Tokyo has also agreed to allow international observers on board whaling vessels, and supports the creation of a DNA registry to facilitate inspections of whale meat and products sold at market.

Finally, said Inwood, Japan has offered to halve its self-arrogated quota of whales hunted in the Southern Ocean, which was declared a whale sanctuary in 1994.

Japanese fisheries minister Masahiko Yamada hinted earlier Tuesday that these numbers could be trimmed even further.

But anti-whaling nations have called on Tokyo to go all the way and swear off hunting in the nutrient-rich Southern Ocean completely.

Inwood said this simply isn't going to happen: "That's a deal breaker, just as trade is a dealbreaker for Iceland."

A clause in the draft deal that would restrict the sale of whale products to domestic markets must be excised, said Iceland's top negotiator Tomas Heidar, adding that his country had made deep concessions elsewhere.

"We have accepted to lower our quotas below sustainable levels," he told AFP. "We have really tried to bridge the gap. But other countries demanded even lower numbers, along with a trade ban under the IWC."

Australia, Germany, Britain and most Latin American countries have taken a hard line against the whaling nations on both the Southern Ocean and trade.

But whaling nation delegates praised efforts by other conservation-oriented nations to find middle ground.

"The United States in not the problem. And New Zealand has shown leadership here," Inwood said.

He had harsh words for green groups such as Greenpeace and WWF, which have lobbied hard for an end to commercial whaling.

"You have to stop listening to the NGOs. They will lie and they will manipulate you to make it look like Japan is not compromising," he said.

He suggested that behind their arguments about sustainability for whale populations was a hidden agenda.

"Why do people want to stop whaling? NGOs just don't like the idea. But that's not enough of a reason for the IWC to say 'no'. It is simply not a credible argument," he said.

The talks in Agadir are scheduled to run through Friday.

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