3 November 2014: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has opened the 50th meeting of its governing body, the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC), and the associated sessions of its Committees in Yokohama, Japan. ITTC-50 will be the third meeting of the Council since the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006 (ITTA, 2006) entered into force on 7 December 2011.

The Council, which is meeting 3-8 November 2014, is expected to hear reports on the partnerships ITTO has created with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Delegates will also consider relevant forest-related developments under the UNFCCC, such as progress on the REDD+ mechanism.

The Council will also review progress on the ITTO Biennial Work Programme (BWP) 2013-2014, discuss BWP 2014-2015, review funding and projects under the five Thematic Programmes, discuss the Biennial Review and Assessment of the International Timber Situation in 2013-2014, hear fellowship programme updates, and agree to the redistribution of votes given the accession of Suriname and Viet Nam to the Agreement in 2014. Delegates will also review member submissions regarding the possibility of strengthening ITTO’s regional presence.

With ITTO Executive Director Emmanuel Ze Meka’s term of office expiring in 2015, ITTC-50 will be tasked with selecting the next Executive Director based on an indicative short-list prepared by the selection panel.

Delegates will also convene the ITTC’s four committees: Committee on Economics, Statistics and Markets (CEM); Committee on Forest Industry (CFI); Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management (CRF); and Committee on Finance and Administration (CFA). The meetings of CEM-CFI and CRF will mostly focus on pre-projects and projects in their respective areas and previously decided policy work. The policy work of CEM-CFI will cover, inter alia: market access; forest and timber certification; and the economic impact of governmental procurement policies on tropical timber markets. The policy work of CRF will focus on: the contribution of environmental services to the sustainable management of tropical forests; the revised ITTO Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests; the management of secondary tropical forests, the restoration of degraded tropical forests and the rehabilitation of degraded forest land; and the ITTO contribution to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and support to regional fire networks. The CFA will review the administrative budgets and account, the special account and Bali Partnership Fund, as well as ITTO staff rules and regulations.

The ITTO Annual Market Discussion 2014, under the theme ‘Domestic and Emerging International Markets – A Changing Market Landscape,’ will take place during a joint session of the committees.

Five side events are set to take place at the margins of the ITTC-50, and will cover topics such as the Amazon, sustainable forest management (SFM) in the Congo Basin, payments for ecosystem services (PES), and electronic tools for legality and traceability of timber in Guatemala. A panel session marking the 50th ITTC will discuss ‘ITTO Past, Present and Future.’

The ITTO was established in 1986 subsequent to the entry into force on 1 April 1985 of ITTA, 1983, which was negotiated under the auspices of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). ITTA, 1994 later became the governing force of the Organization when it entered into force on 31 December 1996; it was then superseded by ITTA, 2006. The ITTO promotes responsible tropical timber trade and industry, with a focus on SFM. [IISD RS coverage of ITTC-50] [IISD RS Coverage of ITTO] [ITTC-49 Report] [ITTC-50 Provisional Agenda] [CEM-CFI Provisional Agenda] [CRF Provisional Agenda] [CFA Provisional Agenda] [Provisional Programme of Meetings and Activities] [ITTO Press Release]