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

The Fifty-first Session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) and the Associated Sessions of the four Committees (Finance and Administration; Economic Information and Market Intelligence; Forest Industry; and Reforestation and Forest Management) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 16 to 21 November 2015.

The ITTC is the governing body of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), which provides a framework for tropical timber producer and consumer countries to discuss and develop policies on issues relating to international trade in, and utilization of, tropical timber and the sustainable management of its resource base. The ITTO has 72 members, which are divided into two caucuses: producer countries (34 members) and consumer countries (38 members), including the European Union. The ITTO’s membership represents 90% of world trade in tropical timber and 80% of the world’s tropical forests.

The major topic that was addressed during this session was the selection of the ITTO’s next Executive Director. The Council received the progress report on the implementation of the Biennial Work Programme (BWP) for 2015–2016, and the progress report on the implementation of the ITTO Thematic Programmes. Participants also discussed the status of the cooperation between ITTO and CITES, and the Report on the Implementation of the Joint ITTO-CBD Collaborative Initiative for Tropical Forest Biodiversity. The annual discussion of the current tropical timber market situation also occured under the theme, “Raising the Profile of Tropical Timber in the Market Place.” Several new ITTO publications were presented, including: Voluntary Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests; Europe’s Changing Tropical Timber Trade; and The Impact Of Timber Procurement Policies.