Objectives The objectives of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006 (hereinafter "this Agreement"), are to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from sustainably managed and legally harvested forests and to promote the sustainable management of tropical timber-producing forests:
- a)By providing an effective framework for consultation, international cooperation and policy development among all members concerning all relevant aspects of the world timber economy; b) By providing a forum for consultation to promote the use of non-discriminatory practices in the timber trade; c) By contributing to sustainable development and poverty reduction; d) By strengthening the capacity of members to implement strategies for achieving that exports of tropical timber and tropical timber products come from sustainably managed forest resources; e) By promoting a better understanding of the structural conditions of international markets, including long-term consumption and production trends, factors affecting market access, consumer preferences and prices, and conditions favorable to prices that reflect the costs of sustainable forest management; f) By promoting and supporting research and development with a view to improving forest management and the efficient utilization of timber and the competitiveness of wood products relative to other materials, and increasing the capacity to conserve and enhance other forest values in tropical timber-producing forests; g) By developing mechanisms to provide new and additional financial resources with a view to promoting the adequacy and predictability of funds and the technical expertise needed to enhance the capacity of producer members to achieve the objectives of this Agreement, as well as by contributing to such mechanisms; h) By improving market information and encouraging the sharing of information on the international timber market, with a view to achieving greater transparency and better information on markets and market trends, including the gathering, compilation and dissemination of trade data, including data on traded species; i) By promoting increased and further processing of tropical timber extracted from sustainably managed forest resources in producer member countries, with a view to promoting their industrialization and thus increasing their employment opportunities and export earnings; j) By encouraging members to support and develop the reforestation of tropical timber forests, as well as the rehabilitation and restoration of degraded forest lands, bearing in mind the interests of local communities that depend on forest resources; k) By improving the marketing and distribution of exports of tropical timber and tropical timber products extracted from sustainably managed forest resources and from legal harvesting and trade, including by promoting consumer awareness; l) By strengthening the capacity of members to collect, elaborate and disseminate statistics on their timber trade, as well as to report on the sustainable management of their tropical forests; m) By encouraging members to develop national policies aimed at the sustainable utilization and conservation of timber-producing forests and maintaining ecological balance, in the context of the tropical timber trade; n) By strengthening the capacity of members to improve the enforcement of forest legislation and governance, as well as to tackle illegal logging and the related trade in tropical timber; o) By encouraging the sharing of information to improve understanding of voluntary mechanisms such as, among others, certification, to promote the sustainable management of tropical forests, and assisting members in their efforts in this area; p) By promoting access to and transfer of technologies and technical cooperation to fulfill the objectives of this Agreement, in particular on favorable terms and preferential conditions as mutually agreed; q) By promoting a better understanding of the contribution of non-timber forest products and environmental services to the sustainable management of tropical forests with the objective of strengthening the capacity of members to develop strategies to strengthen such contribution in the context of sustainable forest management, and cooperating with the relevant institutions and processes to this end; r) By encouraging members to recognize the role of indigenous and local communities that depend on forest resources in achieving the sustainable management of forests and developing strategies aimed at strengthening the capacity of such communities for the sustainable management of tropical timber-producing forests; and s) By identifying and addressing new and relevant issues that may arise.
DEFINITIONS