ENB @ ITTA-3; 27 June - 1 July 2005; Geneva, Switzerland


	Third Part of the United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994
		27 June – 1 July 2005 \| Geneva, Switzerland

Daily Web Coverage & Daily Reports (in English, French & Spanish):

Highlights from Friday, 1 July 2005

On the final day of the UN Conference on the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the ITTA, 1994, delegates reviewed progress made during the session, but could not finalize the terms of the new Agreement. In the morning, a short plenary was held to update delegates on outcomes of the working group sessions. At the conclusion of plenary, delegates reconvened in Working Group I (WGI) to discuss Objectives and in Working Group II (WGII) to clean text in Chapters X (Miscellaneous) and XI (Final Provisions). In the afternoon, delegates further considered the Objectives and Preamble in WGI and considered a Chair's text on finance in WGII. In a closing plenary session, delegates agreed to resolve outstanding issues during a fourth session of the UN Conference in January 2006.

Closing Session

UN Conference President Paranhos presented the Conference’s draft resolution, which, inter alia, requests the UNCTAD Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Executive Director to: make arrangements to reconvene the Conference in January 2006; prepare the necessary documentation, notably the working document resulting from the third part of the UN Conference; and maintain appropriate contacts with all producing and consuming countries with a view to assisting the Conference in achieving a successful conclusion. He said he is exploring the possibility of having a Friends of the Chair meeting before ITTC-39 in Yokohama, Japan, to analyze issues on finance and objectives. President Paranhos underscored that delegates have little time left for finishing a new Agreement and urged them to find compromise before the 11th hour. President Paranhos thanked all participants and closed the meeting at 5:53 pm.



	Panel from the Closing Session. From left to right: Manoel Sobral Filho, ITTO Executive Director, Alexei Mojarov, UNCTAD, WGII Chair Jürgen Blaser, Switzerland, President Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos, Brazil, Lisanne Losier, UNCTAD, WGI Chair Alhassan Attah, Ghana, Catherine Sibut-Pinote, UNCTAD, and Carlos Moreno Mericaechevarria, Advisor, Legal Services



	President Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos		WGII Chairman Jürgen Blaser and President Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos



	Luiz Cesar Gasser (left), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil and President Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos (right)		Carlos Moreno Mericaechevarria, UNCTAD legal advisor talking to President Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos

Joint Working Group

Chair Blaser noted that during the week some progress was achieved in negotiating the text for the new Agreement, but expressed concern about the small range of flexibility showed by participants. He noted the successful side of the meeting is reflected in the articles approved informally during ITTA-3 (TD/TIMBER.3/L.5/Add.2). He agreed not to submit to the legal drafting committee the article on complaints, following Peru’s note that it is a violation of national sovereignty. Delegates approved to send articles on amendments and exclusion (Articles 42 and 44) with brackets on special vote to the legal drafting committee. Delegates also approved the article on duration, extension, and termination (Article 46) with brackets on special vote and the number of years the agreement shall remain in force after its entry into force.



	WGI Chair Alhassan Attah, Ghana		WGII Chair Jürgen Blaser, Switzerland, noted that the enlarged “Friends of the Chair” group indicates that he still has a large number of friends, which is good news

Working Group I

In the morning, Working Group I reconvened to discuss the Preamble. WGI Chair Alhassan Attah, Ghana, addressed text on, inter alia, recognizing: the rights of indigenous people; the benefits of market prices that reflect sustainable forest management costs; and the multiple benefits of forests, including examples of non-timber forest products and ecological services. In the afternoon, delegates discussed the objectives of the new Agreement.



	Panel from the Working Group I. From left to right: WGI Vice-Chair Jan McAlpine, US, WGI Chair Alhassan Attah, Ghana, and Catherine Sibut-Pinote, UNCTAD



	Stephanie Caswell, US, during an intervention in WGI



WGI Chair Alhassan Attah, Ghana	Cecep Herawan, Permanent mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations and other International Organizations	Franz Xaver Perrez, Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape, noted that increasing investment can also come from the private sector



On recognizing the benefits of market prices that reflect SFM costs and the need for increased SFM investment, Iwan Krolis, Suriname, said investment in SFM can only be sustained if the revenues from forests can cover its cost	Renzo Silva, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Venezuela, proposed, and delegates agreed, not to specify whether the increased investment is foreign, domestic or provided by all the members	Stephanie Caswell, US, noted that reinvesting of forest-generated revenues is only one of the ways of increasing SFM investment

Working Group II

During the morning session, WGII Chair Blaser led discussions on: exclusion of members; duration, extension and termination; review; amendments; entry into force; Annexes A and B; and committees and subsidiary bodies. WGII Chair Blaser provided an overview of his compromise text on finance, which captures elements of the EC and Producer Group proposals.



	From left to right: Luis J. Macchiavello, Ambassador of Peru, Chair Jürgen Blaser, Switzerland, and Lisanne Losier, UNCTAD



Hoda Salah El-Din Rased, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of Egypt	Enzo Barattini, European Commission	David Brooks, US



Francisco Javier Mejia, Honduras, expressed concern that the Chair’s proposal did not contain text from the Producer’s proposal	Koichi Ito, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan	Li Quiang, Ministry of Commerce of China



Daniel Birchmeier, Switzerland	Luiz Cesar Gasser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil	Hae-wook Cheong, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, Republic of Korea, agreed on the need to retain the special vote on exclusion



	Merethe Luís, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, agreed with having a long duration for the new Agreement		Katharina Kuehmayer, Austria



	WGII Chair Jürgen Blaser, Switzerland, and Lisanne Losier, UNCTAD		EU representatives



	Li Quiang (left), Ministry of Commerce of China and Katharina Kuehmayer (second from left), Austria, consulting to Lisanne Losier, UNCTAD and WGII Chair Jürgen Blaser, Switzerland

Other photos



	Bo-Alex Fredvik (Brazil/Canada), ENB writer		Korean Republic and Japanese delegation



	Josefina Takahashi Sato (left), Luis Macchiavello, and Deborah Davenport



	Venezuelan delegation Juan Carlos Gonzalez (left) and Renzo Silva (right)		New Zealand delegation: Don Wijewardana and Charlotte Cudby



	Hae-wook Cheong, Daniel Birchmeier, and Bipin Behari		Merethe Luís, Inga Magistad (center), and Enzo Barattini



	Karen Alvarenga de Oliveira (Brazil), ENB writer

	Relevant Links

ITTO website, with provisional program, documents for the meeting, and information about the ITTO.
UNCTAD.
UNFF Website.
ENB summary from ITTC-37: (HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTC-36: (English: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (French: HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTC-35: (English: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (French: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (Spanish: HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTC-34: (English: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (French: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (Spanish: HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTC-33: (English: HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTA, 1994 renegotiation: (English: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (French: HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from ITTA, 1994 (second part): (English: HTML, PDF, TEXT) (French: HTML, PDF, TEXT).
ENB summary from UNFF-5: (HTML, PDF, TEXT).
YMB summary from the Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Conference: (HTML, PDF, TEXT).
SD summary from the United Nations Forum on Forests Country-Led Initiative on Lessons Learned in Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting on Implementation of IPF/IFF Proposals for Action: (HTML, PDF, TEXT).
SD summary from the International Conference on Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management (CICI): (HTML, PDF, TEXT).
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