Up to 70,000 Britons who visit Iceland each year have been given a stiff warning by the Foreign Office not to bring home any whale meat, which is currently on sale at Keflavik airport. To do so they will be in breach of international law protecting endangered species, facing penalties of imprisonment or fines up to £5,000.

Importation into Britain and other EU countries is illegal under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (Cites). The government added the warning to its advice on travelling to Iceland after being alerted to the fact that whale meat is on sale at Keflavik airport but so far there have been no reports of whale meat on sale in the UK or being seized at the border.

In September, President Barack Obama announced that the US would take diplomatic action against Iceland to put an end to the country's commercial whaling but US official Marie Yovanovitch, who was recently-appointed representative of relations with the Nordic countries, stated last week that no action other than the US administration expressing its 'concern' over the issue had taken place and indicated that this is out of the question among 'allies and friends'. Yovanovitch described the relation between Iceland and the US and stressed the importance of the countries' partnership.

Minke whale steaks were able to be purchased at Keflavik International Airport on two separate occasions. Conservation groups are calling for trade sanctions against the country.