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 Friday, 17 December 2004

On Friday morning, delegates convened in the Committee on Finance and Administration (CFA), in the Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management (CRF) and in the Committees on Forest Industry (CFI) and on Economic Information and Market Information (CEM) to adopt their respective reports. In the afternoon, delegates convened in Council to discuss phased approaches to certification and the ITTO Fellowship Programme. Delegates also met in the Chair’s Open-Ended Drafting Group to formulate the draft decision on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the project cycle.

Above photo L-R: CFA Chair Chris Ellis thanked delegates for their support and gavelled the CFA session to a close.

CRF:

Above photo L-R: Hiras Paimatua Sidabatur (ITTO), Emmanuel Ze Meka (ITTO), CRF Chair A.S.K. Boachie-Dapaah and CRF Vice-Chair Jennifer Conje.


The REPUBLIC OF CONGO requested three months to submit the completion, technical and financial reports for its project on integrated management of the Ngoua II Forest. Above photo: Delegates from the Republic of Congo with Gregoire Nkeoua	COLOMBIA requested not to suspend its projects in Guaviare reserve and in Choco. The ITTO Secretariat agreed as long as the new executing agency provides all documentation to verify the projects' status. Above photo: Camilo Aldana (Colombia)


Above photo L-R: Delegates adopted the report and elected Jennifer Conje (US) as Chair and Petrus Gunarso (Indonesia) as Vice-Chair of the CRF.

CEM/CFI:

Delegates adopted the report of the CEM/CFI, recommending 30 projects to the ITTC. Above photo L-R: Paul Vantomme (ITTO), Celestine Ntsame-Okwo (Gabon), CFI Chair Astrid Bergquist, CEM Chair Yeo-Chang Youn, Amha Bin Huang (ITTO) and Steve Johnson (ITTO)


Above photo: CFI Chair Astrid Bergquist, CEM Chair Yeo-Chang Youn, thanked delegates for the completion and adoption of the report of the CEM/CFI.	On the terms of reference for the study on subsidies, AUSTRIA, supported adding “subsidies” to the “range of support measures” and substitute “international bodies” for “international agencies.” Above photo L-R: Katharina Kuehmayer (Austria) and Andres Tobias (EC)


Above photos L-R: Delegates elected Celestine Ntsame-Okwo (Gabon) to chair CFI and Renzo Siliva (Venezuela) as the chair for CEM

CFA:


Delegates concluded discussions on the biennial work programme, the election of officers and the dates and venue of the next sessions. Delegates approved the report pending these changes. Above photo: CFA Chair Chris Ellis	Delegates then elected Shaharuddin Mohamad Ismail (Malaysia) as Chair and Sai Guohua (China) (above) as Vice-Chair.

Council Session:

PHASED APPROACHES TO CERTIFICATION


MALAYSIA indicated that the report would provide good input to its country level consultation on legal compliance. Above photo: Y. Bhg. Dato’ Dr. Freezailah bin Che Yeom (Malaysia)	Markku Simula, ITTO consultant, presented the report on the procedures for the implementation of phased approaches (PAs) to certification in tropical timber producing countries and reported on financial cost-benefit analysis of forest certification and implementation of PAs (ITTC(XXXVII)/13).


SWITZERLAND announced its international workshop on PAs in Bern, Switzerland in April 2005. Above photo: Daniel Birchmeier (Switzerland)	GHANA suggested that ITTO seek broader stakeholder consultations at the country level, and supported the PA to forest certification. Above photo: A.S.K. Boachie-Dapaah (Ghana)

OTHER STATEMENTS:


The Trade Advisory Group (TAG), called for countries to work together to resolve trade data discrepancies and an audit of existing tracking systems in tropical forest industries. Above photo: Barney Chan (Sarawak Timber Association)	The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) noted that 2005 will be a critical year for UNFF and the International Arrangement on Forests. Above photo: Mahendra Joshi (UNFF)	Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) called attention to the importance of creating synergies between the FAO and ITTO’s work. Above photo: Hikojiro Katsuhisa (FAO)

ittc-37 ENB SNAPSHOTS:

Above photos L-R: Bill Singleton and Sandra Ribey (Canada); Utako Aoike (ITTO); David Brooks (US), James Gassana (Switzerland), Alastair Sarre (ITTO) and Jürgen Blaser (Switzerland)


Above photo L-R: Manako Hanawa (ITTO), David Brooks (US) in consultation with Aulikki Kauppila (Finland); Chair Jan McAlpine and ITTO Executive Director Manoel Sobral Filho

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