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4 November  

5 November

6 November

7 November

8 November

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

Saturday, 9 November 2002

ITTC Chair Blaser opened the final session of the Council on Saturday morning. Delegates considered CITES proposals; heard reports from the Credentials Committee, the ITTO Fellowship Selection Panel, the Committees, and the Panel on Sub-Account B of Bali Partnership Fund; adopted decisions; elected the Chairmanship for 2003; and heard closing statements.

 


Closing Plenary


In closing Chair Blaser said he was pleased that ITTC-33 had pledged US$6.6 million and approved 24 new projects and pre-projects and nine decisions, and with the timetable of the renegotiation of the ITTA. He also said the renegotiation of the ITTA represents an opportunity to increase the value of the agreement, but that doing so requires that members actively involve labour, industry and other groups in the renegotiation process. Chair Blaser commended ITTC-33 for its open discussion on two very controversial topics - certification and illegal logging and for passing the decisions on the fire prevention and management and civil society/private sector partnerships. He then gently scolded ITTC-33 for its failure to provide adequate economic information and for critical financial situation facing the Bali Partnership Fund. 

After thanking the Secretariat, Executive Director Sobral, and many others, Chair Blaser gavelled ITTC-33 to a close at 14:53.
Producer and Consumer Group Statements:



The Consumer group expressed gratitude for the conciliatory tone of ITTC-33 despite some tough negotiating and said that ITTC-33's most important decision was to start renegotiating the ITTA, 1994. She urged members to address the needs of a new organization through the renegotiation and said that ITTC needs transparency on decision making

 




The Producer group
said it was pleased with the results of the CSAG panel and with the decision to streamline ITTO's work because this will benefit the renegotiation process. He also encouraged all members to provide the ITTO with more economic information and market intelligence.
H.E. Mr. Oben Tanyi Mbianyor, Minister of the Environment, Cameroon (below right), called for focusing on concrete activities in the field, efficient utilization of financial resources and providing additional funds for projects.



H.E. Mr. Salomon Banamuhere Baliene, Minister for Land, the Environmental, Nature Conservation, Timber and Forests, Democratic Republic of Congo (far right), commended the meeting for its work and thanked the Japanese government for generous contributions to ITTO.

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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