TROPICAL TIMBER CONFERENCE DIVIDED OVER SCOPE OF REVISED ITTA

The United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), convening from 26-30 July in Geneva, Switzerland, decided to close with two issues -- the objectives of the successor agreement and the financial arrangements -- left for further discussions when the Conference reconvenes in February. Despite the remaining difference, there was widespread support for a continuation of the ITTA and its overall structure.

Just prior to the Conference, the International Tropical Timber Council convened for its 36th session (ITTC-36) in Interlaken, Switzerland. Among the issues discussed, civil society and trade groups put forward joint proposals on how the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) could help to address illegal logging and illegal trade in tropical timber.

Narrow versus broad scope

Despite extensive discussions in working and contact groups, countries did not succeed in bridging their difference over the objectives of the successor agreement to the ITTA. Positions were broadly divided into two camps, including producer and consumer countries on both sides. Among the major producer countries, Brazil and Malaysia favoured a narrow focus exclusively on timber, opposing a possible dilution of the ITTA's position as a global marketing association. To the surprise of some observers, the EU -- among the consumer countries -- also preferred a narrow focus, arguing that broader conservation issues should be dealt with by other international forums, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity or the United Nations Forum on Forests.

In contrast, several producer countries, such as Indonesia, India, Colombia, Ecuador and Ghana among others, would like to see continuation of the current scope which effectively includes non-timber forest products (NTFP) and forest services. Work in these areas, as well as forest restoration and protection activities, has already been carried out under the auspices of the ITTO over the past few years. Most consumer countries also favour a broader scope, which they regard as more promising for adding value to the conservation of tropical timber given the continuing decline in tropical timber trade and the growth in NTFPs and services markets. The US, while supporting a broad focus, remained wary of the ITTA becoming another multilateral environmental agreement, stressing the need to preserve its status as a commodity agreement.

For their part, civil society groups called on countries to acknowledge that sustainable production and trade of NTFPs and forest-related services are legitimate and important contributors to sustainable tropical timber forest management. They also called for a re-dedication of the ITTA and ITTO to their primary objective of sustainable management of tropical forests; the promotion of sustainable forest management and trade in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals; commitment of the ITTO to deal with illegal logging and trade; and acknowledgement of the legitimate rights and interests of indigenous peoples and other local communities.

The negotiations will continue from 14-18 February 2005 in Geneva.

Combating illegal timber trade

At a joint workshop held just prior to ITTC-36, the ITTC's Advisory Groups on Trade and Civil Society joined forces to voice their concerns over continued illegal logging and illegal trade of tropical timber. The groups agreed that the ITTO should step up its efforts to address these problems, calling on the organisation, inter alia, to improve data and understanding of timber production and trade; support transparency in the tropical timber trade and access to information; and to encourage national, regional and international trade regimes to promote legal trade. ITTC Chair Jan McAlpine welcomed the outcomes of the workshop. "This has been an historic event," she said. "That two groups with often contrasting views could sit down and jointly propose such strong and substantial actions is a credit to them ... Sometimes it takes civil society and trade to lead governments in contentious areas."

Background on the ITTA

The ITTA, which was adopted in 1983 and entered into force in 1985, is a commodity agreement negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The Agreement, which was set up in response to growing concerns over the future of tropical forests, explicitly recognises the need to balance conservation and sustainable use of tropical forests -- several years ahead of the Brundtland report and the Rio Summit. The ITTA was revised in 1994 to include broader provisions for information sharing, including non-tropical timber trade data, and greater consideration of non-tropical timber issues as they relate to tropical timber. The ITTA established the ITTO, headquartered in Japan, which includes 58 government members (33 producer and 25 consumer countries) representing 95 percent of world trade in tropical timber and 75 percent of the world's tropical timber forests. The ITTC is the governing body of the ITTO, which is composed of all ITTO members. The Trade Advisory Group and the Civil Society Advisory Group were established by non-member stakeholders to facilitate their participation in the Council and to provide input to the Council's decision-making process.

Daily coverage of the the ITTA negotiations and ITTC-36 was provided by IISD Linkages.

ENB Vol. 24 No. 29, 26 July 2004; ENB Vo. 24 No. 44, 2 August 2004; "Trade, civil-society organizations agree on measures to combat illegal logging," ITTO, 23 July 2004.