51st Session of the International Tropical Timber Council
and Associated Sessions of the Committees (ITTC-51)

On Friday, ITTC-51 entered its fifth day of discussions. In the morning, delegates met in a Joint Session of the Committees to continue discussions of ex-post project evaluations and ITTO’s application for accreditation to the Green Climate Fund.

This was followed by sessions of the Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management (CRF), the Committee on Finance and Administration (CFA), and the Committee on Economics, Statistics and Markets and the Committee on Forest Industry (CEM-CFI).

At lunch, the Working Group on admission of observers continued its discussions, as well as the CITES Advisory Committee. In the afternoon, Producers and Consumers held separate caucus meetings. Following this, Council met to discuss the selection of the new ITTO Executive Director. Although Council did not achieve consensus, delegates agreed to draft a decision establishing a “principle of rotation” which alternates between a Producer and Consumer member candidate. The Council also discussed the ITTO Fellowship Programme, which provides support for students and young professionals from Producer countries pursuing education and research in forestry and forestry-related trade.

In the evening, the CFA Working Group continued drafting a decision to establish the terms of reference for an investigation into the loss of ITTO funds due to failed investments.