A senior official in Japan's foreign ministry has called a proposal by Australia to the International Whaling Commission to end the practice in Antarctica within five years "regrettable."

State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Koichi Takamasa said at a news conference that "it was regrettable that such a proposal was made."

Australia also asked for a ban on scientific whaling, which is currently legal, and a loophole that is exploited by Japan in order to make sure that its fisherman can still head out to sea for whales every year.

Every year, there are clashes at sea near the Antarctic between Japanese whalers and groups opposed to the practice.

The issue has also become a source of tension between antiwhaling countries and Japan in recent years.

Whaling for commercial purposes was banned in 1986, but almost immediately after that, Japan started hunting the aquatic mammals for what it claims are for scientific purposes.