International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)

ABOUT ITTO

               ITTO is a commodity organization which brings together countries which produce and consume tropical timber to discuss and exchange information and develop policies on all aspects of the world tropical timber economy.   ITTO is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan and at 1 December 2017 has a membership of 73 countries, including the European Union, which together represents about 90 percent of world trade in tropical timber and a majority of the world’s tropical forests.

              ITTO recognizes that a continuing supply of tropical timber on the world market depends on quality information about the trade and market place, on efficient timber production and processing methods and on sustainable forest management practices.  ITTO facilitates discussion, consultation and international cooperation on issues relating to the international trade and utilization of tropical timber and the sustainable management of its resource base.

               ITTO was first established by the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), 1983, which was negotiated with a limited life span of ten (10) years under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and came into force in 1985.  The Organization became operational in 1987. Unlike some other commodity agreements, the ITTA has no price regulation mechanisms or market intervention provisions, and accords equal importance to trade and conservation.  ITTO’s underlying concept is sustainable development of tropical forests by encouraging and assisting the tropical timber industry and trade to manage and thus conserve the resource bases upon which they depend.

             The successor agreement to the ITTA (1983) was negotiated in 1994 and came into force on 1 January 1997.  ITTA, 1994 continued to focus on the world tropical timber economy.  In addition, it contained broader provisions for information sharing, including non-tropical timber trade data and allowed for consideration of non-tropical timber issues as they relate to tropical timber.

              Negotiations for a successor to this agreement were concluded, again under the auspices of UNCTAD in 2006 and entered into force on 7 December 2011. The ITTA, 2006 builds on the foundations of the two previous agreements, focusing on the world tropical timber economy and the sustainable management of the resource base, simultaneously encouraging the timber trade and the improved management of the tropical forests.