The Forestry Agency of Japan and the Chiba Prefectural Government organized this International Expert Meeting to promote enhanced international collaboration for the effective development and implementation of national codes of practice for forest harvesting and to build on work in this field by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) and others.

Approximately 120 participants from 16 countries gathered for the meeting from 17-20 November 2003 in Chiba, Japan. Participants identified key issues and priority recommendations, including the need for: transparency and broad involvement of stakeholders in all aspects of formulating and implementing national codes of practice; each country to clearly identify what constitutes its national code of practice for forest harvesting; developing effective facilitation and conflict management skills to guide and manage processes related to formulation and implementation of codes of practice; developing sound communication strategies and systems to enhance widespread dissemination of codes and their potential; and ensuring the equitable distribution of benefits from forest harvesting among stakeholders. For more information contact: Yuji Imaizumi, Forestry Agency of Japan or visit: http://www.rinya.maff.go.jp/code-h2003/ (Note: this website will be launched in mid-January 2004.)