The government will reject an international agreement to limit trade in great white sharks that was reached last month at a wildlife conservation conference in Bangkok, government sources said Monday.

Japan will also invoke the reservation clause on its acceptance of another agreement to ban international trade in Irrawaddy dolphins, they said.

In October, participants at the conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora agreed to limit commercial trade in great white sharks, citing continued decline of the population caused by demand for their teeth, fins and jaws.

The Bangkok agreement also requires countries exporting great white shark products to issue trading permits.

Member countries under the CITES framework have the right to reserve their execution of any agreements reached at the conferences if implementation is due to domestic circumstances.

Japan used this right at the last conference, sparking protests from conservation groups when it reserved execution of agreements to limit trade in shale sharks, basking sharks and sea horses.

Japanese delegates told the October conference that there was no possibility of great white sharks and Irrawaddy dolphins becoming extinct, citing what they called a lack of scientific data.

The government should use its right to reservation only as a transitional policy, said Hisako Kiyono, a member of Traffic, a wildlife conservation group.

She said that if Japan recklessly reserved its acceptance of CITES agreements, it might "nullify the effectiveness of the treaty itself."