ENB @ ITTC-37 Yokohama, Japan 13-18 December 2004

Thirty-seventh Session of the International Tropical Timber Council and Associated Sessions of the Committees

13-18 December 2004, Yokohama, Japan

Earth Negotiations Bulletin - ENB

	English			French
Daily Web coverage	HTM	PDF	TXT	HTM	PDF	TXT
Curtain Raiser
Mon 13
Tue 14
Wed 15
Thu 16
Fri 17
Sat 18 & SUMMARY

Click on the above days to view previous ENB Web coverage.

Click here to translate this page through the courtesy of Babelfish

Highlights for Thursday, 16 December 2004

In the morning, delegates met in Plenary to hear reports on forest law enforcement in Malaysia and Honduras, the Asia Forest Partnership and measures to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber. In the afternoon, delegates reconvened in Plenary to, inter alia, hear the annual review and assessment of the international timber situation and adopt revised criteria and indicators. Delegates also met in the Joint Committee to discuss measures to improve the project cycle and in the Committee on Finance and Administration (CFA) to discuss the indicative 2005 Administrative Budget. The Chair’s opened ended drafting group began formulating decisions on improving the project cycle and implementing CITES Appendix-II.

Above photo L-R: View of the plenary during the morning Council Session.

Council Session:


MALAYSIA noted awareness of the need for SFM and highlighted efforts it has made in this regard. Above photo:	Chen Hin Keong, Traffic International, presented a case study report on forest law enforcement and governance in Malaysia in the context of sustainable forest management (SFM) (ITTC(XXXVII)/9).


JAPAN expressed support to continue compiling of shipping and customs data related to illegal activities. Above photo: Kazuyuki Morita (Japan)	PAPUA NEW GUINEA expressed concern that the illegal logging outcry could have negative impacts on tropical timber trade. Above photo: Dike Kari (Papua New Guinea) (right)


Danilo Escoto, ITTO consultant, presented a report on illegal logging and forest law enforcement in Honduras (ITTCXXXVI)/9).	VENEZUELA asked how Honduras is satisfying the demands of local and indigenous communities to manage their resources. Escoto responded that Honduras aims to increase community forestry. Above photo: Renzo Siliva (Venezuela)


Hikojiro Katsuhisa, FAO, expressed hope that the case studies from the report will provide practical policy guidance on forest law compliance and welcomed ITTO’s cooperation in the compilation of FAO’s Forest Products Yearbook.	Steve Johnson (ITTO), reported on the status of the Handbook on best practices for the improvement of law compliance in the forest sector.

STRENGTHENING THE ASIA FOREST PARTNERSHIP:


Bambang Murdiona, Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia, presented on progress made in strengthening the Asia Forest Partnership (AFP).	The US said that The Nature Conservancy proposed a work plan for a transportation meeting, following the Civil Society Advisory Group/Trade Advisory Group’s and member’s recommendations. Above photo L-R: Chris Ellis and David Brooks (US)


SWITZERLAND called attention to a decision on forest governance and decentralization in the context of the prirorities of the AFP’s priorities to be proposed at ITTC-38. Above photo L-R: Camilo Aldana (Colombia) in discussion with James Gasana and Jürgen Blaser (Switzerland)	The NETHERLANDS announced their recent accession to and financial commitment for the AFP. Above photo: Frederik Vossenaar (The Netherlands)

MEASURES TO PROMOTE THE EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN TROPICAL TIMBER:


R.E. Taylor, ITTO consultant, presented a draft report on measures to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber (ITTC(XXXVII)/10).	The EC said that technical barriers to trade (TBT) definitions in the report do not accord with those in the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Above photo: John Bazill (EC)

REVISION OF CRITERIA AND INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT:


The REPUBLIC OF CONGO asked about the specifics for an institutional framework, and Blaser replied that this would include forest management plans. Above photo: Grégoire Nkeoua (Republic of Congo)	Jürgen Blaser, Intercooperation, presented revised criteria and indicators (C&I), saying that the seven criteria would be maintained with some modified language.

JOINT COMMITTEE:


Chris Ellis (US), CFA Chair, presented the draft decision on measures to improve and strengthen the ITTO project cycle.	The NETHERLANDS, on behalf of EU and member states, supported by INDIA, said some processes currently referred to expert panels should be instead referred to the Council and the ITTO Secretariat.

CFA:

Delegates approved the indicative Administrative Budget for the Year 2005 (CFA(XVI)/2), and CFA Chair Ellis (US) said that a proposed line item for statistical work would not be included in the current budget but should be considered in the next biennial budget.

Above photo L-R: The dais during a session of the CFA with Mahboob Hasan (ITTO), Charas Mayura (ITTO) and CFA Chair Chris Ellis

ittc-37 ENB SNAPSHOTS:

Above photos L-R: Simone Meira Dias (Brazil), Barney Chan (Sarawak Timber Association), and Ana Euler (WWF Brazil)


Above photo L-R: Rócia Silva Oliveira (Brazil), Mahendra Joshi (UNFF); Luiz Gasser and Carmen Roseli Caldas Menezes (Brazil)

Links |

ITTO website, with provisional program, documents
for the meeting, and information about the ITTO.
ENB summary from ITTC-36: (HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTC-35: (HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTA: English (HTML, PDF, TEXT) - French (PDF).
Linkages forests, desertification and land issues page,
including a brief introduction to global forest policy.
UNFF Secretariat