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4 November  

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6 November

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9 November

SUMMARY


33rd Meeting of the International Tropical Timber Council and Associated Sessions of the Committees 
4 - 9  November 2002
Yokohama, Japan 
        

Daily Web Coverage |Curtain| |Mon 4| |Tue 5| |Wed 6| |Thu 7| |Fri 8| |Sat 9|

Highlights from

Wednesday, 6 November 2002

On Wednesday, delegates convened in Council and Committee sessions. The Council met in the morning and in the afternoon to address progress on Objective 2002, sustainable forest management (SFM) in the Congo Basin, forest law enforcement and governance (FLEG) in Africa, matters related to Article 46 of ITTA, 1994 and certification. In the afternoon, the Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management (CRF) addressed, inter alia, forest fires, demonstration areas and the work programme for 2003. The Committees on Economic Information and Market Intelligence (CEM) and Forest Industry (CFI) held a joint session to discuss policy work. The Committee on Finance and Administration (CFA) considered, inter alia, a revised draft 2003 budget and a draft decision on the 2002 administrative budget management. Above photo L-R: H.E. Oben Tanyi Mbianyor, Minister of Forests and the Environment (Cameroon) and H.E. Henri Djombo, Minister of the Economy, Forestry and the Environment (Congo).

Council Session: 
OBJECTIVE 2000: Sustainable forest management in Brazil: 



 Markku Simula, Finland, presented a report on achieving sustainable forest management (SFM) in Brazil (ITTC(XXXIII)/17), stressing the need to improve human resources and management.

Sustainable forest management in the Central African Republic: 





 Paul Vantomme, FAO, presented a report on an ITTO Mission in the Central African Republic towards ITTO 2000 Objective and SFM (ITTC(XXXIII)/18), highlighting recommendations including institutional strengthening, information and education of local communities, and regional cooperation.
SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT IN THE CONGO BASIN: 




 Henri Djombo, Minister of the Economy, Forestry and the Environment of Congo, presented a partnership for SFM in the Congo Basin. He announced plans to develop a Pan-African certification system and called for an international consensus on a phased approach to certification.

FOREST LAW ENFORCEMENT IN AFRICA: 

Dirk Bryant, Global Forest Watch, reported on a data collection initiative in the Congo Basin, and overviewed the use of remote sensing and geographic information systems to monitor forest concessions, promote transparency and strengthen the information base for SFM.

MATTERS RELATING TO ARTICLE 46 OF ITTA, 1994: New and emerging issues:





The PHILIPPINES, GHANA and the EU expressed concern with expanding ITTA's scope.


The REPUBLIC OF KOREA requested that the ITTO's future be decided by consensus.




NEW ZEALAND underscored the importance of, inter alia, C&I for SFM, 
certification, clean development mechanisms reforestation initiatives, forest plantations, and complementarities between timber and non-timber forest products.




SWITZERLAND stressed the need for compliance and enforcement mechanisms.
Process and schedule of Council sessions and ITTA renegotiations: 

The Secretariat introduced recommendations from the Informal Advisory Group on a process and schedule for Council sessions and ITTA renegotiations (ITTC(XXXII)/2 Annex). 




 JAPAN, supported by NEW ZEALAND, the EU and BRAZIL, called for completing negotiations by 2005 to enable Japan to complete its domestic approval process and remain an ITTO Member and a host country.
CERTIFICATION:
INDONESIA supported phased certification in both producer and consumer countries, and called for consistency of national certification schemes, and separating auditing and consulting in order to prevent conflicts of interest.





The US said that SFM does not require certification, and opposed ITTO endorsement of any certification scheme.
The REPUBLIC OF CONGO opposed giving full control over certification to forest owners.




The FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (right) called for flexible approaches.

COMMITTEE ON REFORESTATION AND FOREST MANAGEMENT
POLICY ISSUES: Forest fires:

Delegates heard presentations on: current efforts and options for ITTO projects on forest fire management; the upcoming International Wildland Fire Conference and Wildland Fire Summit; and cooperation between the ITTO and the Global Fire Monitoring Centre.
COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC INFORMATION AND MARKET INTELLIGENCE
POLICY WORK: Susan Braatz, United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), outlined work on SFM, illegal logging prevention, and trade, and encouraged ITTO to participate in UNFF's trade-related activities. The Secretariat provided an overview of activities of the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Forest Statistics, and reviewed the ITTO Work Programme for 2002 and the draft Work Program for 2003.
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
DRAFT ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET FOR 2003: 





 The Secretariat introduced a revised draft administrative budget for 2003 (CFA(XII)/2/Amend.2) providing for a 3.58% budget increase.





MALAYSIA noted that the increase was the lowest possible.

Links

 ENB Summary of ITTC-32 in PDF (English)

ITTO website, with documents for the meeting (includes provisional agendas),
and information about the ITTO.

Linkages forests, desertification and land issues page, including a brief introduction
to global forest policy.


 

 

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