ENB @ ITTA-4, 16-27 January 2006, Geneva, Switzerland (25 Jan.)

United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994, 4th part

16–27 January 2006 | Geneva, Switzerland

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Curtain Raiser
Mon 16
Tue 17
Wed 18
Thu 19
Fri 20
Mon 23
Tue 24
Wed 25
Thu 26
Fri 27 & SUMMARY

Highlights from Wednesday, 25 January 2006

Negotiations at the UN Conference on the Negotiation of the Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994 (ITTA, 1994), Fourth Part went into the evening as delegates continued to work on unfinished aspects of the text. While Working Group I (WGI) achieved some progress in the morning, Working Group II did not meet, but contact groups met during the day to discuss articles on finance and Entry Into Force. In the evening a number of delegates met with President Paranhos and managed to clean more text, but remained entrenched over EC membership, ratification, assessments and votes.

Working Group I

Working Group I contact groups achieved progress on Objectives and Distribution of Votes, and presented their proposed compromises to the group.

Delegates met during the Working Group I before breaking for informal consultations

Regarding the Preamble, WGI Chair Alhassan Attah, Ghana, said the Legal Drafting Group (LDG) suggested deleting reference to the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, the Bangkok Plan of Action and the New Partnership for Development

On Membership by IGOs, the contact group, in discussing voting matters within IGOs, agreed to delete reference to the assessment of contributions to the Administrative Account. Photo: John Bazill, European Commission

Bjorg Merethe Luis, Norway, requested time to consult with Oslo regarding deletion of text on Certification

On encouraging information sharing on transparent and voluntary market mechanisms such as certification, Iwan Krolis, Suriname, reported that the informal contact group had not been able to reconcile Producer and Consumer positions

On enhancing capacity of “Producer” members to achieve the Agreement’s Objectives, Kathryn Youel Page, US, noted that a group was negotiating this Objective and suggested postponing discussion

On enhancing capacity of “Producer” members to achieve the Agreement’s Objectives, Hoda S. Rashed, Egypt, urged deleting the term “Producer” as this would unnecessarily preclude consumer developing countries from benefiting from this clause

Working Group I broke into contact groups for consultation on Objectives, Membership by IGOs, and Special Votes.

Left to right: Erika del Rocio López Rojas, Mexico, James Gasana, Switzerland, Renzo Silva, Venezuela, and Rubén Dario Guerrero Useda, Colombia

Left to right: Angela Chavez Bietti and José Rolando Zanotti, Guatemala

Afternoon and Evening Meetings

Working Group II (WGII) contact groups met throughout the morning. Producer and Consumer Groups caucused over lunch, followed by an EU coordination meeting. A group of delegates, invited by President Paranhos, met at 18:00 in an attempt to reach consensus on remaining areas of dispute.

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Links

UNCTAD’s website for the ITTA, 1994 renegotiation, 4th part. Includes the provisional agenda and supporting documents
ITTO Secretariat
UNFF Website
FAO
UNFF Secretariat
UNFCCC Secretariat
CBD Secretariat
ENB coverage of ITTC-39
ENB coverage of the UN Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the ITTA, 1994 - Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3
YMB summary of the Country-Led Initiative “Scoping for a Future Agreement on Forests”, 16-18 November 2005, Berlin, Germany (HTML, PDF, TEXT)
ENB summary from UNFF-5: (English: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (Spanish: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (French: HTML, PDF, TEXT)
YMB summary from the Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Conference, 6-8 June, 2005 Moscow, Russia: (HTML, PDF, TEXT)
YMB coverage the Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Conference, 22-25 November 2005, St. Petersburg, Russia
ENB archives of forestry meetings

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