International Tropical Timber Agreements (1983 &1994)

OBJECTIVES:

-provide effective framework for consultation, international co-operation & policy development in all related aspects

-provide forum for consultation to promote non-discriminatory timer trade practices

-contribute to the process of sustainable development

-enhance capacity of members to implement the strategy for achieving exports of timber & its products from sustainably managed sources by 2000

-promote the expansion & diversification of international trade in tropical timber by improving the structural conditions in international markets

-promote & support R&D in improving forest management & efficiency of wood utilisation

-develop & contribute towards mechanisms for new & additional financial resources

-improve market intelligence for enhancing transparency in timber market

-promote increased & further processing of tropical timber from sustainable sources in the countries with a view to promote their industrialisation and increasing employment opportunities & export earnings

-encourage members to support & develop industrial tropical timber reforestation & forest management activities (eg. rehabilitation of degraded forest lands) with due regards for the interest of local communities dependent on forest resources

-improve marketing & distribution of tropical timber exports

-encourage members to develop national policies aimed at sustainable utilisation & conservation of timber producing forests & their genetic resources along with ecological balance in the regions & tropical timber trade

-promote the access to, & transfer of technologies & technical cooperation, on mutually agreed concessional & preferential terms & conditions  to implement the objectives of the agreements

-encourage information-sharing on international timber market

Structure of the Organisation

•Provisions of the agreement is implemented by  “INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER  ORGANISATION” established in 1983 under UNCTAD which became operational in 1987.

•The successor agreement to ITTA was renegotiated in 1994 and came into force in 1997 with broader provisions for information sharing, including non-tropical timber trade data & consideration of non-tropical timber issues having bearing tropical timber

•ITTO has 59 members including the EU & its headquarter is  at Yokohama (Japan)

•It represents 95% of world trade in tropical timber and 75% of the world’s tropical forests

•International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) is the governing body of the ITTO

•It has two category of the members: Producer & Consumer countries

•Members dues & votes are calculated based on market share & in the case of producers the extent of tropical forests

•The Council is supported by 4 Committees  which are open to all countries

•Three Committees deal with (1) Policy & project work; (2) Economic information & market intelligence and (3) Reforestation, forest management & forest industry

•Theses committees are supported by an Expert Panel for the Technical Appraisal of Projects & Pre-projects, responsible for reviewing the project proposals

•Fourth Committee advises the Council on ‘Finance & Administrative’ matters

•The Council is supported by the Executive Director & 4 Assistant Directors

FOCUS ON WORK

•Four sets of guidelines for achieving sustainable forest management has been adopted by the ITTC

-management of natural tropical forests since 1989

-tropical forest plantations

-conservation of biological diversity in tropical production forests

-prevention & management of fire in tropical forests

•These guidelines were supplemented in 1992 by a set of criteria & indicators against which the standards of management & progress towards sustainability can be assessed

•In 1998, ITTO published “Criteria & Indicators for Sustainable Management of natural Tropical Forests” for country members