TROPICAL TIMBER TALKS RESUME IN GENEVA

 

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 27 June (UNCTAD) -- Representatives of countries that produce and consume tropical timber will continue drafting a new international agreement on trade in tropical timber during a third negotiating session from 27 June to 1 July.

Balancing environmental and commercial concerns; a possible shift in the proportional allocation of votes and financial contributions from the producer and consumer nations that are parties to the current agreement; and whether some of the now-voluntary contributions to the budget of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), which oversees the Agreement, should be made mandatory are among the areas where consensus is still being sought.  The 33 producing nations and 26 consumer countries that are signatories of the current pact are expected to attend the meeting, being held in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Most of the text of the draft Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement of 1994 -- as the new pact is currently called -- was negotiated during two previous week-long sessions (26-30 July 2004 and 14-18 February 2005).  Ambassador Carlos Antonio de la Rocha Paranhos of Brazil is presiding over the meeting, the UN Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994.

The previous Agreement was adopted in 1994 following talks begun in the 1980s as part of UNCTAD’s Integrated Programme for Commodities.  The impetus was concern over the rapid cutting of tropical forests, which are disappearing at the rate of 15 million hectares per year.  It was acknowledged that a flourishing trade in tropical timber could contribute to significant economic growth in developing countries, and the strategy devised was to encourage sustainable use of the resource to protect forests while also allowing trade in timber and the employment that comes from timber operations.  Global tropical timber sales total some $10 billion per year.

The existing and draft successor Agreements are intended to serve as a framework for consultation, international cooperation and policy development among producing and consuming nations.  Countries signing the 1994 accord account for some 80 per cent of the world’s tropical forests and 90 per cent of global commerce in tropical timber.

UNCTAD’s Role

The current pact on tropical timber is among a series of international commodity agreements negotiated largely under UNCTAD auspices and for which the UN Secretary-General acts as depository.  Other agreements concern cocoa, coffee, cotton, grains, sugar, and olive oil and table olives.  Their purpose is to create intergovernmental forums for producer-consumer consultations; increase market transparency through the provision of statistics and other information; and help developing countries make the best possible use of their commodity sectors, contributing in the process to sustainable development.  As with the ITTO, which is based in Yokohama, international commodity organizations have been established in each case to administer the agreements.

Contacts:  Press Office, +41 22 917 5828, e-mail: unctadpress@unctad.org; web: www.unctad.org/press; or A. Mojarov, +41 22 917 5782, e-mail: alexei.mojarov@unctad.org.

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