The International Whaling Commission yesterday delayed for a year the touchy subject of whether to lift a ban on commercial whaling. A motion by pro-whaling countries asking the IWC to allow controlled hunts was withdrawn before an official vote. The pro-whaling faction is led by Japan, which ran into a P.R. nightmare last week when one of its whaling negotiators said his country used foreign aid to help persuade other countries to vote to lift the ban. He also complained about the high number of minke whales in the sea, describing the species as "the cockroach of the ocean." Pro-whaling countries at the IWC meeting did succeed in shooting down a campaign for a whale sanctuary in the South Pacific.