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November 2003
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11 November

 

 

 

12 November

 

 

 

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Preparatory Committee for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), 1994 (PREPCOM II)

 
Yokohama, Japan | 10 - 12 November 2003

 

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Delegates to the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom II) for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the 1994 International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA, 1994) convened in both Plenary and closed-door caucus sessions. In Plenary, delegates heard presentations on: experiences in implementing the ITTA, 1994; the current status and future potential of markets for ecosystem services of tropical forests; and the Inter-sessional Working Group on the Renegotiation of a Successor Agreement to the ITTA, 1994 held in Curitiba, Brazil in August 2003. In the afternoon, delegates discussed amendments to articles for the successor agreement. Photo: Stephanie Caswell, Consultant, Manoel Sobral Filho, ITTO Executive Director, PrepCom Chair Jürgen Blaser (Switzerland), PrepCom Vice-Chair Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos (Brazil)

     

Opening Plenary
Stephanie Caswell, Consultant, Manoel Sobral Filho, ITTO Executive Director, PrepCom Chair Jürgen Blaser (Switzerland), PrepCom Vice-Chair Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos (Brazil), ITTC-35 Chair Bin Che Freezailah, and ITTC-35 Vice-Chair Jan McAlpine
PrepCom Chair Jürgen Blaser (Switzerland) opened the meeting, noting progress so far and emphasizing the need for good communication and information exchange among delegates.
   
Stephanie Caswell, ITTO Consultant, presented the report on experiences of implementation of the ITTA, 1994 (ITTC(XXXV)/5). She highlighted, inter alia: ITTO decisions; funding under the Bali Partnership Fund; cooperation with other organizations; member non-payment; incomplete attainment of ITTO Objective 2000; and member countries' failure to provide timely statistical data. Regarding areas for potential review during the PrepCom, she outlined, inter alia: consolidating the Agreement's objectives; specifying the ITTC's functions; and improving policy and project work integration.
Jürgen Blaser presented on the current status and future potential of markets for ecosystem services (ES) of tropical forests (ITTC(XXXV)/6). He said the main buyers of ES are local, private investors. Chair Blaser said that: trade in ES can result in land-rights claims by politically powerful groups; contract negotiations that exclude local people; and the ES trade is hampered by insufficient knowledge and information dissemination. He called for the development of property rights and legal frameworks. Presentation on Current Status and Future Potential of Markets for Ecosystem Services of tropical Forests: An Overview
ITTC-35 Chair Bin Che Yeom Freezailah (Malaysia) lauded ITTO's many achievements, including the willingness of members to concede sovereignty concerns particularly regarding country missions and transparency issues.Chair
ITTC Vice-Chair McAlpine said that ITTO's role in enhancing ES is discrete from discussions on whether the ITTO should address the trade in environmental services..

Olaf Jensen, Norway, and EC members

Norway, supported by Malaysia, Venezuela, Indonesia, the Republic of Congo and the EC, cautioned against duplicating the work of international bodies, such as the World Trade Organization, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Norway suggested that the successor agreement focus on the property rights of indigenous peoples.

The EU called for keeping the agreement as a commodity agreement.

 
 
Ghana, Peru and Colombia
Don Wijewardana, New Zealand (left) and Ghana intervenes (right)

Malaysia (left) said the ITTA's achievements have been mixed, underlining that, with limited funding, it is important not to overburden the Secretariat. He added that the new agreement should not differ substantially from ITTA, 1994.intervenes. . Arguing that the value of ES is unpredictable. Malaysia suggested that the successor agreement focus on issues currently addressed, such as poverty and illegal logging.

David Brooks, US (right)


Miscellaneous Photos
Nigeria
Canada makes an intervention, cautioning participants against opening the article on non-discrimination up to debate.
The Producer Group strategizing its position on the financial arrangement.
Working Group Co-Chair Carlos Antonia da Rocha Paranhos (Brazil) weighs in on the matter of sessions of the Council.