The UN-backed wildlife trade agency said last Friday it supported a proposed ban on the international trade in bluefin tuna, a delicacy in Asia, which is due to be examined by 175 countries next month.

"We are recommending that the parties approve the proposals made by Monaco," said David Morgan, head of the scientific support unit at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

Japan has opposed the ban proposed by Monaco, which would classify the fish as a species threatened with extinction, Cites officials said.

France this week lent its support to the proposals under certain conditions despite strong opposition among its Mediterranean fishing fleets, paving the way for European Union backing, officials said.

France's support follows another U-turn by Italy earlier. Both countries' last year formed part of a coalition that included Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Malta, which managed to block a proposal by the European Commission to support a call for a ban made by Monaco.

The Commission is now expected to support the ban due to be decided on by Cites member states in March in Qatar.

Morgan told journalists that bluefin tuna met the criteria for inclusion in the top grade Appendix 1 - which bans cross-border trade of a species outright and classifies it as endangered - notably because of a general 80 per cent decline in its stocks.

Currently, bluefin tuna, found in parts of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, is subject to fishing quotas of about 20,000 tonnes a year, but its stocks are highly prized.

A single fish, weighing about 650 kilogrammes, can currently fetch up to 120,000 dollars, according to Cites. Unusually, Monaco's proposals would also set up a special Cites committee that could recommend a quick change if stocks recover.

But Morgan said there had been little sign of a "rebound" in the species in West Atlantic, despite a broad halt to fishing there from the mid-1980s.