By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) -- Australia has taken its case against Japan's whaling practices to international court, Japanese officials said Tuesday.
The move toward legal action is "regrettable," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hidenobu Sobashima said, when international whale-hunting rules are still being negotiated.
The International Whaling Commission is scheduled to evaluate existing whaling rules at its annual meeting in June.
But last week Australian officials said that asking the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to weigh in was a necessary step.
