DECREE NO 4,802, Of August 7, 2003.

Extends the duration of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, signed in Geneva on January 26, l994 and promulgated by the Decree on the 2,707, of August 4, 1998.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, in the use of the assignment that gives him the art. 84, inciso IV, of the Constitution,

Considering that the International Tropical Timber Agreement was signed in Geneva on January 26, 1994 and entered into international force on 1º January 1997;

Whereas the multilateral act in epiggraft was approved by the Legislative Decree no 68, of November 4, 1997, and promulgated by the Decree no 2,707, of August 4, l998;

Considering that, by Decision 4 (XXVIII), the International Council of Tropical Chairs, in the use of the award that gives it the art. 46 (2) of the mentioned Agreement, resolved to extend its duration by three years, from 1º January 2001;

Whereas, by the Decree No 3,752 of February 16, 2001, it has been extended to the duration of the said Agreement;

Whereas, by Decision 9 (XXXIII), the International Council of Tropical Chairs, in the use of the award that gives it the art. 46 (2) of the mentioned Agreement, resolved to extend its duration for an additional period of three years, from 1º January 2004;

DECRETA:

Art. 1º It is extended to the duration of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, signed in Geneva, on January 26, 1994, aped by copy to this Decree, by the additional three years, to be counted from 1º January 2004.

Art. 2º This Decree enters into force on the date of its publication.

Brasilia, August 7, 2003; 182º of Independence and 115º of the Republic.

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA
Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim

International Agreement of Tropical Timber AIMT, 1994

Index

Preamble

Chapter I: Goals

Article 1-Objectives

Chapter II: Definitions

Article 2-Definitions

Chapter III: Organization and Administration

Article 3-Sede and Structure of the International Tropical Timber Organization

Article 4-Members of the Organization

Article 5-Intergovernmental Organizations Members

Chapter IV: International Council of Tropical Chairs

Article 6-Composition of the International Council of Tropical Chairs

Article 7- Powers and Roles of the Council

Article 8-President and Vice-President of the Council

Article 9-Council Sessions

Article 10-Distribution of Votes

Article 11-Council Voting Procedure

Article 12-Decisions and Recommendations of the Council

Article 13-Quorum. to the Council

Article 14-Cooperation and Coordination with other Organizations

Article 15-Admission of Observers

Article 16-Executive Directors and Employees

Chapter V: Privileges and Immunities

Article 17-Privileges and Immunities

Chapter VI: Finance

Article 18-Accounts Financial

Article 19-Account of Management

Article 20-Special Account

Article 21-Bali Partnership Fund

Article 22-Forms of Payment

Article 23-Audit and Presentation Of Accounts

Chapter VII: Operational Activities

Article 24-Development of Policies in the Organization

Article 25-Organization Project Activities

Article 26-Establishment of the Committees

Article 27-Functions of the Committees

Chapter VIII: Relationship to the Common Base Products Fund

Article 28-Relationship to the Common Base Products Fund

Chapter IX: Statistics, Studies, and Information

Article 29-Statistics, Studies, and Information

Article 30-Annual Report and Review

Chapter X: Miscelings

Article 31-Complaints and Disputes

Article 32-General Obligations of Members

Article 33-Exemption from Obligations

Article 34-Differential and Corrective Measures and Special Measures

Article 35-Review

Article 36-Non-Discrimination Chapter XI: Final clauses

Article 37-Depositary

Article 38-Signature, Ratification, Acceptance and Approval

Article 39-Access

Article 40-Notification of Application Provisional

Article 41-Entry into Vigour

Article 42-Amendments

Article 43-Withdrawal

Article 44-Exclusion

Article 45-Accounting of Accounts with Members who Have Withdrawn or Were Deleted or Incapacitated Members of Accepting an Amendment

Article 46-Duration, Extension and End

Article 47-Law reserve

Article 48-Supplementary And Transitional Clauses

Annex A-Relation of the Producers with Tropical Forest Resources and / or Liquid Exporters of Tropical Wood in Terms of Volume, and Allocation of Votes for the Purposes of Article 41.

Annex B-Relation of the Consumer Countries and Allocation of Votes for the Purposes of the Article 41.

Preface

The Parties to this Agreement,

Recording the Declaration and the Action Program for the Establishment of A New Order International Economic, the Integrated Program for Base Products, A New Partnership for Development, the Commitment of Cartagena and the relevant objectives contained in the Spirit of Cartagena;

Recalling the 1983 International Tropical Timber Agreement, and recognizing the work of the International Tropical Chairs Organization and its achievements since its inception, including a strategy to target international tropical timber trade give sustainable manhandling sources;

Recalling still the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development, the Declaration of Principles with Authority, Non-Jurimethodically Mandatory, for a Global Consense on Manhandling, Conservation and Sustainable Development of all Types of Forests, as well as the chapters ' relevant chapters of the 21 Agenda as adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992, in Rio de January; the United Nations Framework Convention on the Changing Climate; and the Convention on Biodiversity;

Recognizing the importance of wood for the economies of countries with wood producing forests;

Recognizing still the need to promote and apply comparable and appropriate guidelines and criteria for the manhandling, conservation and sustainable development of all types of wood-producing forests;

Considering the links between the trade in tropical timber and the international timber market, as well as the need to have a global perspective to increase the transparency of the international timber market;

Taking note of the commitment, assumed in Bali, Indonesia, in May 1990, by all members, to achieve the export of tropical timber products from sustainable manhandling sources by the year 2000, and recognizing the Principle 10 of the Declaration of Principles with Authority, Not Legally Mandated, for a Global Consensus on Manejo, Conservation and Sustainable Development of all Types of Forests, which declares that new financial resources and additional should be provided to developing countries to allow manning, conserve to sustainably develop their forests, including by means of forestation, reforestation and combating deforestation, and soil degradation and the forest;

Taking note also of the declaration of the commitment made by the consuming members who are Parties to the 1983 International Tropical Timber Agreement, on the fourth session of the United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the 1983 International Tropical Timber Agreement on January 21, 1994 in Geneva of maintaining or reaching out, year 2,000, the sustainable manhandling of their respective forests;

Desiring to strengthen the framework of international cooperation and policy development among the members, in the search for solutions to the problems facing the economy of tropical wood;

Wake up the next:

Chapter 1
Goals

Article 1
Goals

Recognized the sovereignty of members over their natural resources, as defined Principle 1 (a) of the Declaration of Principles with Authority, Non-Jurimethodically Mandatory, for Global Consensus on Manejo, Conservation and Sustainable Development of all Forests Types, the objectives of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994 (henceforth called "this Agreement") are:

(a) to provide an effective framework for consultation, international cooperation and policy development among all members with respect to all relevant aspects of the world's wood economy;

b) Provide a consultation venue for the promotion of non-discriminatory wood trade practices;

c) To contribute to the process of sustainable development;

d) Increase the capacity of the members, so that they can implement a strategy to achieve exports of tropical timber and tropical wood products from manned sources sustainably, by the year 2000;

and) Promote a expansion and diversification of the international trade of tropical timber sources manned sustainably, by improving the structural conditions of international markets, taking into consideration, on the one hand, the long-term increase of the consumption continuity of supply, and, on the other hand, prices that reflect the costs of sustainable forest manhandling and that are remunerative and eequitative for members as well as improved market access;

f) Promoting and supporting research and development aiming at the improvement of forest manhandling to the efficiency of wood utilization as well as increasing conservation capacity and highlighting other forest values in tropical growing forests of woods;

g) Develop and contribute to the promotion of mechanisms with a view to providing new and additional financial resources, in addition to the knowledge needed to increase capacity of the members producers to achieve the goals set by this Agreement;

h) Improve the market information system, aiming to ensure greater transparency of the international timber market, including the collection, compilation and dissemination of trade data, including data concerning the species being negotiated;

i) Promoting the increase and further processing of sustainable tropical woods in the member countries producers, aiming to promote their industrialization and thus, it their employment opportunities and gains with export;

j) Encourage members to support and develop reforestation tropical timber industrials and forest manhandling activities, as well as the rehabilitation of degraded forest soils taking proper consideration of the interests of local communities, which depend on forest resources;

k) Improve the marketing and distribution of tropical timber exports from sustainable manhandling sources;

l) Encourage the members to develop national policies that target the using sustainable conservation of wood producing forests and their genetic resources, as well as maintaining the ecological balance in the relevant regions, in the context of the trade of tropical timber;

m) Promote access and transfer of technologies and technical cooperation, implement the objectives of this Agreement, including in concessional terms and conditions and prefer mutually agreed upon; and

n) Encourage the dissemination of information about the international timber market.

Chapter II
Definitions

Article 2
Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement:

1. "Tropical wood," means non-coniferous tropical wood for industrial use, which grows or is produced in countries situated between the Tropian of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The term if Te: the trunks, sawdust, wood veneers and plywood. The compensated ones that include some proportion of conifers of tropical origin, will also be covered by this definition;

2. "Additional processing" means the transformation of the trunks into primary products wood, finished and semi-finished products made entirely or almost entirely of tropical wood;

3. "Members" means a Government or Intergovernmental Organization, as referred to in Article 5, which has consented to link to this Agreement in a provisional or final manner;

4. "Producer Member" means any country with tropical forest resources and / or a voluminous net export of tropical wood, which is listed in Annex A and that takes part in this Agreement, or any country that possessions forest resources tropical and / or a voluminous net exportation of tropical wood that is not related in Annex A, which takes part in this Agreement, that the Council, with the consent of the country in question, declare to be a producer member;

5. "Consumer Member" means any country related to Annex B, which becomes part of this Agreement, or any country unrelated to Annex B, which takes part in this Agreement and that the Council, with the consent of the parents in question, declare to be uni member consumer;

6. "Organization" means the International Tropical Timber Organization, established in accordance with Article 3;

7. "Council" means the International Council of Tropical Chairs, established in accordance with Article 6;

8. "Special Vote" means a vote that requires at least two-thirds of the votes deposited by the producing and voting members, and at least 60% of the votes deposited by the present and voting consumers, counted separately, provided that such votes are deposited by at least half of the present and voting producer members and PC minus half of the consumers present and voting;

9. "Voting by Distributed Simple Majority," means a vote requiring more than half of the votes deposited by the producing and voting members, as well as more than half of the votes deposited by the consuming members present and voters, counted separately;

10. "Fiscal Year," means the period from December 31 to December 31 inclusive;

11. "Freely Usable Currencies" means the German Milestone, the French Franco, Japanese Iene the Libra esterlina, the US Dollar, and any other currency opportunely designated by a competent international monetary organization, as being of ample use in international transaction payments and widely traded in major foreign exchange markets.

Chapter III
Organization and Administration

Article 3
Sede and Structure of the International Tropical Timber Organization

1. The International Tropical Timber Organization, established by the 1983 International Tropical Timber Agreement, will continue to exist for the purpose of administering the clauses of this Agreement and overseeing the functioning of it.

2. The Organization shall operate by means of the Council established under Article 6, of the committees and other subsidiary bodies mentioned in Article 26, as well as of the Chief Executive Officer and officials.

3. The headquarters of the Organization shall be in Yokohama, unless the Council by special vote, determines in another way.

4. The headquarters of the Organization should always be located in the territory of a member.

Article 4
Organization Members

There will be two categories of members in the Organization, namely

a) Producer

b) Consumer.

Article 5
Intergovernmental organizations Members

1. Any reference in this Agreement to "Governments" shall be interpreted as including the European Community and any other Intergovernmental Organization with responsibilities with regard to the negotiation, conclusion and application of agreements international, in particular agreements on commodities. Similarly, any reference in this Agreement to the signature, ratification, acceptance or approval, or notification of provisional application, or accession, in the case of such Intergovernmental Organizations, shall be construed as including a reference to the signature, ratification, acceptance or approval, or notification of provisional application or accession by such an Intergovernmental Organization.

2. In the case of voting on matters of its competence, such Organizations Intergovernmental will vote with a number of votes equal to that of the total number of votes assigned to its Member States in accordance with Article 10. In such cases, the Member States of such Intergovernmental Organizations shall not have the right to exercise their individual voting right.

Chapter IV
Council International of Tropical Chairs

Article 6
Composition of the International Board of Chairs Tropical

1. The most important authority of the Organization will be the International Tropical Chairs Council, which will consist of all the members of the Organization.

2. Each member shall be represented in the Council by a representative and you will be able to assign alternates or advisors to appear at Council sessions.

3. An alternate representative will have powers of acting and voting on behalf of the representative during the absence of this or in special circumstances.

Article 7
Powers and Roles of the Council

1. The Council shall exercise all powers and shall act or provide for the full exercise of all the functions necessary for the performance of the clauses of this Agreement.

2. The Council, by special vote, shall adopt the standards and regulations necessary for the implementation of the clauses of this Agreement, always in compliance with it, including its own standards of financial procedures and standards, as well as the regulation governing the staff of the Organization. Such financial standards should, inter alia, administer the revenue and spending of the funds of the Management Account, Special Account and the Bali Partnership Fund. The Council may, in its standards of procedures, establish a procedure by which, without meeting, it may decide on specific issues.

3. The Council should maintain the records necessary for the performance of its functions, pursuant to this Agreement.

Article 8
Chairman and Vice-President of the Council

1. The Council shall elect for each calendar year a President and a Vice-President, whose salaries shall not be paid by the Organization.

2. The President and the Vice-President shall be elected, one among the representatives of the producer members and the other among the representatives of the members consumers. Such posts each year shall be alternated between the two categories of members, provided that such a procedure does not preclude the re-election of any or both, under exceptional circumstances, by means of special voting by the Council.

3. In the temporary absence of the President, the Vice President will act in his stead. In the temporary absence of both the President and the Vice-President, or in the absence of one or both of the remainder of the term for which they were elected, the Council will be able to elect new leaders from among the representatives of the producer members and / or damong the representatives of the members consumers, as the case may be, provisionally or for the remainder of the term for which their predecessor or predecessors were elected.

Article 9
Council sessions

1. As a general standard, the Board will have each year at least one regular meeting.

2. The Council shall meet in special sessions whenever it is so decided or by request:

a) of the Executive Director, with the consent of the President of the Council, or;

b) of a majority of producing members, or of a majority of consumer members, or;

c) of the members holding at least 500 votes.

3. Meetings of the Council should be held at the headquarters of the Organization unless the Council, by special vote, decides otherwise. If, at the invitation of some member, the Board convenes at another location other than the headquarters of the Organization, that member shall pay for the additional costs entailed by holding the meeting outside the headquarters of the Organization.

4. Notices on any meetings and on the agenda for such sessions should be communicated to the members by the Chief Executive Officer at least six weeks in advance, except in the cases of emergency, when the notice can be communicated with at least seven days in advance.

Article 10
Distribution of Votes

1. The producer members must hold to the whole 1,000 votes and the consumers members will hold the entire 1000 votes.

2. The votes of the producing members shall be distributed in the following manner:

a) Quatrocentous votes will be distributed equally among the three producing regions, namely Africa, Asia, Pacific and Latin America. The votes thus allocated for each of these regions are to be equally distributed among the producing members of each region;

b) Three hundred votes will be distributed among the producer members accordingly with their respective holdings in the total resources of the tropical forests of all the producing members, and;

c) Three hundred votes will be distributed among the producing members in the proportion of the average of the values of its net exports of tropical timber during the most recent three-year period, for which there are definitive data.

3. Notwithstanding, the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, the total votes allocated to the producing members of the African region, calculated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, shall be distributed equally among all the members producers in the African region. Should there be any remaining votes, those votes shall be allocated to producer members of the African region: the first, to the producer member who has the highest number of votes, under the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article; the second, to the producer member who has the second highest number of votes; and so on until all the remaining votes are distributed.

4. For the calculation of the distribution of votes, as per the provisions of paragraph 2 (b) of this Article, "tropical forest resources" means productive closed forests of wide sheets as defined by the Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO).

5. The votes of the consumers members will be distributed as follows: each consumer member will have 10 initial votes; the remaining votes will be distributed among the members in the proportion of the average volume of their respective net imports of tropical wood, over a period of three years, counted from four years before the distribution of the votes.

6. The Board will distribute the votes for each Fiscal Year at the beginning of its first session of that year, in accordance with the provisions of this Article. Such a distribution will remain in effect for the remainder of the year, excepted the provisions of paragraph 7 of this Article.

7. Where there is change in the frame of members of the Organization, or when or any member has its right to vote suspended or re-established pursuant to any of the clauses of this Agreement, the Council shall redistribute the votes within the category or affected categories of the members under the provisions of this Article. The Council will, in that case, decide when such redistribution will take effect.

8. There will be no fractious votes.

Article 11
Council's Voting Procedure

1. Each member shall have the right to deposit the number of votes he holds, and no member shall have the right to divide their votes. A member, meanwhile, will be able to vote differently on any vote that is authorized to deposit pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article.

2. Through written notification addressed to the President of the Council, any producer member may authorize, under its full responsibility, any other producer member, and any consumer member may authorize, under its full responsibility, any other consumer member, to represent its interests and deposit their votes in any of the Council's meetings.

3. In the event of abstention, it shall be deemed that the Member has not deposited their vote.

Article 12
Decisions and Recommendations of the Council

1. The Council will engage in making all decisions and will make all recommendations by consensus. Should there be no consensus, the Council will take all decisions and make all the recommendations through the simple distributed majority unless this Agreement provides for special voting.

2. When a member is worth the provisions of Article 11, paragraph 2, and their votes are deposited at a meeting of the Council, that member, pursuant to the paragraph first of this Article, shall be considered present and voting.

Article 13
Quorum for the Council

1. The quorum for any meeting of the Council shall be the presence of a majority of the members of each category referred to by Article 4, provided that such members have at least two-thirds of the total votes in their respective categories.

2. In case there is no quorum, according to what is determined by the paragraph first of this Article, on the day fixed for the meeting as well as the next day, the quorum for the subsequent days of the meeting will be that of the presence of the majority of the members of each category referred to by Article 4, provided that such members hold the majority of the total votes of their respective categories.

3. The representation pursuant to Article 11, paragraph 2, shall be considered as presence.

Article 14
Cooperation and Coordination with Other Organizations

1. The Council will make the necessary arrangements for consultations and cooperation with the United Nations and its bodies, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Committee on Sustained Development (CSD), Organizations Intergovernmental, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Wildlife Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES), and Non-Governmental Organizations.

2. The Organization should, at the limit of its possibilities, use the existing facilities, services and knowledge of existing intergovernmental, governmental or non-governmental organizations, seeking to avoid the duplicity of the efforts aimed at to achieve the objectives of this Agreement, and to increase the complementarity and efficiency of its services.

Article 15
Admission of Observers

The Board will be able to invite any Government non-member or any of the organizations mentioned in Articles 14, 20 and 29, interested in the activities of the Organization, to participate, as observers, at any of the meetings of the Council.

Article 16
Executive Director and Employees

1. The Council shall, by special vote, indicate the Chief Executive Officer.

2. The terms and conditions of the nomination of the Chief Executive shall be determined by the Council.

3. The Executive Director shall be the administrative head of the Organization and shall respond before the Council by the administration and implementation in the form of the Council's decisions.

4. The Executive Director will indicate the staff of officials according to the standards to be established by the Board. The Council shall decide, by special vote, the number of executives and professionals that the Chief Executive Officer may appoint. Any changes in the number of executives and professionals are expected to be decided by the Council, by special vote. The staff of employees will be the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer.

5. Neither the Chief Executive Officer nor any member of the staff team will be able to have any financial interest in the industry, lumber trade, or related commercial activities.

6. In the performance of their duties, the Chief Executive Officer and the employees shall not seek or receive instructions from any member or external authority to the Organization. They should refrain from any actions that may adversely reflect on their positions of international officials, ultimately responsible, before the Council. Each member will respect the uniquely international character of the responsibilities of the Chief Executive as well as the employees, and will not attempt to exert influence on them in the exercise of their duties.

Chapter V
Privileges and Immunities

Article 17
Privileges and Immunities

1. The Organization shall have legal personality. It will have in particular the ability to hire and dispose of movable and immovable property, and to institute legal procedures.

2. The status, privileges and immunities of the Organization, its Chief Executive Officer, its officials and experts, and the representatives of the members while in the territory of Japan, will continue to be regulated by the Seal Agreement between the Government of the Japan and the International Tropical Wood organization, signed in Tokyo, on February 27, 1988, with the amendments necessary for the proper functioning of that Agreement.

3. The Organization may conclude, with one or more countries, agreements to be proved by the Council, relating to capacity, privileges and immunities as is necessary for the proper functioning of that Agreement.

4. Should the seat of the Organization be transferred to another country, the member in question shall negotiate with the Organization, as soon as possible, a headquarters agreement to be approved by the Council. Until the conclusion of that agreement, the Organization will request the new host Government to ensure, within the limits of its national legislation, the exemption of payment of fees on the remuneration paid to the employees of the Organization, as well as on the net worth, income and other assets of the Organization.

5. The Sede Agreement will be independent of this Agreement. In the meantime, it will conclude:

a) By agreement between the host Government and the Organization;

b) In the case of the Organization's headquarters being removed from the host government country; or

c) In the case of the Organization cease to exist.

Chapter VI
Finance

Article 18
Financial Accounts

1. They will be established:

a) The Account of Management;

b) The Special Account;

c) The Bali Partnership Fund, and

d) Other accounts that the Board judge appropriate and necessary.

2. The Executive Director will be the responsible officer for the administration of these accounts and the Board will have it available on this in the financial standards of the Organization.

Article 19
Management Account

1. The expenses required for the administration of this Agreement will be effected by the Management Account and serviced by annual contributions paid by the members, in accordance with their respective constitutional and institutional procedures, which will be fixed as per paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

2. The expenditure of Council delegations, committees and other subsidiary bodies to the Council, mentioned in Article 26, shall be met by the interested members. In the event that a member requests the Special Services Organization, the Council shall request that member to pay the costs of such services.

3. Before the end of each fiscal year, the Council will be able to approve the administrative budget of the Organization for the following fiscal year and shall fix the contribution of each member to the said budget.

4. The contribution of each member to the administrative budget, in each fiscal year, shall be calculated in the proportion of the number of its votes, with respect to the total votes of all members, on the date the administrative budget is approved for that fiscal year. In settling the contributions, the votes of each member shall be calculated without considering the suspension of the right to vote of any member or the redistribution of votes from it resulting.

5. The initial contribution of any member joining the Organization after the entry into force of this Agreement shall be fixed by the Council on the basis of the number of votes allocated to that new Member and in the remaining period of the current fiscal, however the calculation for the other members in the current fiscal year will remain unchanged.

6. The contributions to the administrative budget will be due on the first day of each fiscal year. The contributions relating to the fiscal year in which they take on members of the Organization shall be due on the date of accession.

7. In case a member has not fully paid his / her contribution to the administrative budget within four months of the salary, as per paragraph 6 of this Article, the Executive Director shall request the Member to pay the payment the most brief possible. If that member does not pay in two months from that solicitation, it will be urged to state the reasons that have prevented the payment. If at the end of seven months of delay, as of the due date of the contribution, that member has not yet paid his or her contribution, his right to vote shall be suspended until he has paid in full his contribution, unless the Board, by special vote, come to decide otherwise. If, if otherwise, a member has paid his full contribution to the administrative budget, within the period of four months of the salary of the same, the contribution of that member, pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article, will have a discount to be determined by the Council, as per the financial standards of the Organization.

8. A member whose right to vote has been suspended pursuant to paragraph 7 of this Article, remains obliged to pay his / her contribution.

Article 20
Special Account

1. There will be two sub-accounts under the Special Account title:

a) The Sub-Account of Pre-Projects and

b) A Sub-Account of Projects.

2. The sources of funding for the Special Account may be:

a) The Common Base Products Fund;

b) Regional and International Financial Institutions, and

c) Contributions Volunteers.

3. Special Account features will only be used for Pre-Projects or approved Projects.

4. All Pre-Project Sub-Account expenses will be reimbursed by the Projects Sub-Account, in case the projects are subsequently approved and funded. If, within six months of the entry into force of this Agreement, the Council does not receive funds for the Sub-Account of Pre-Projects, it will review the situation and take the relevant decisions.

5. All receipts regarding Pre-Projects or specifically identifiable Projects, under the Special Account, will have to be included in this Account. All expenses of these Projects or Pre-Projects, inclusive of the expenses for remuneration and travel of consultants and specialists, will be debited to the same Account.

6. The Council, by special vote, shall lay down the terms and conditions in which it may, where appropriate, sponsor projects for financed loans, where a member or members have voluntarily taken over in their entirety obligations and responsibilities for these loans. The Organization shall have no obligation in respect of such loans.

7. The Council will be able to indicate and sponsor any entity, with the consent of this, of which it participates in one or more members, to receive loans for the financing of approved projects, taking over the entity all obligations involved, but reserved to the Organization the right to monitor the use of the resources and to follow up with the implementation of the funded projects. The Organization, however, will not be liable for guarantees voluntarily offered by individual members or other entities.

8. No member shall be responsible, for being part of the Organization, for any increase in obligations arising from loans taken or granted by other members or entities, in connection with projects.

9. In the case of voluntary funds and without specific targeting being offered the Organization, the Council will be able to accept them. These funds will be able to be employed in approved Projects and Pre-Projects.

10. The Executive Director will engage in the search, observed the terms and conditions laid down by the Council, of adequate and guaranteed financial resources for Projects and Pre-Projects approved by the Council.

11. Contributions to approved specific Projects will be used only in the projects for which they were originally offered, unless the Board decides differently with the agreement of who made the contribution. Upon completion of a Project, the Organization will return to each taxpayer of the specific Projects the balance of the remaining funds, prorated by each taxpayer in the proportion of their share in the total available for the financing of the Project, unless it is agreed, in another way with the taxpayer.

Article 21
Bali Partnership Fund

1. A fund is established for the sustainable manhandling of tropical timber producing forests, to assist the producing members in making the investments necessary to achieve the objective of Article 1 (d) of this Agreement.

2. The Fund will be constituted of:

a) Contribution of donor members;

b) Fifty percent of the revenue coming from activities concerning the Special Account;

c) Resources from other private and public sources that the Organization will be able to accept as long as they are in accordance with their financial standards.

3. The resources of the Bali Fund will be allocated by the Council only for Pre-Projects and Projects, for the purposes set out in the first paragraph of this Article, and that they are approved under Article 25.

4. In the allocation of resources of the Fund, the Board will take into consideration:

a) The special needs of the members, whose contribution of the forest sector to their economies is adversely affected by the implementation of the strategy to target tropical timber exports and tropical wood products from sustainable manning sources by the year 2,000.

b) The needs of members with significant forest area that have established conservation programs in the timber production forests.

5. The Council shall annually examine the appropriateness of the resources available to the Fund and engage in the achievement of additional resources necessary for the producer members to be able to achieve the purposes of the Fund. The ability of the members to implement it. the strategy mentioned in paragraph 4 (a) of this Article will be influenced by the availability of the resources.

6. The Council shall establish financial policies and standards for the operationalization of the fund, inclusive of standards covering the reckoning, termination or expiration of this Agreement.

Article 22
Forms of Payment

1. The contributions made to the Management Account may be paid in free and current use currencies, and will be exempt from any exchange restrictions.

2. Financial contributions to the Special Account and to the Fund of Bali Partnership will be payable in free and current use currencies, and will be exempt from any foreign exchange restrictions.

3. The Council may also decide whether to accept other forms of contributions to the Special Account or to the Bali Partnership Fund, including scientific and technical equipment or personnel, which meet the requirements of approved Projects.

Article 23
Audit and Presentation of Accounts

1. The Board shall appoint independent auditors to audit the accounts of the Organization.

2. independently audited reports from the Management Account, Special Account and the Bali Partnership Fund will be placed at the disposal of the members, as early as possible after the closing of the fiscal year, before last six months of that date, and will be submitted to the Council's approval, at its following meeting, as it is up to it. A summary of the audited and balance accounts will be published after that.

Chapter VII
Operational Activities

Article 24
Development of Policies in the Organization

With the purpose of achieving the goals set out in Article 1, the Organization will perform work on policy development and project activities in the areas of economic information and market information systems, reforestation and forest manhandling and forest industry, in a balanced way, so as to integrate, as much as possible, the development of policies with the project activities.

Article 25
Organization Project Activities

1. Having present the needs of developing countries, members will be able to submit proposals for Pre-Projects and Projects to the Council in the fields of research and development, the market information system, further processing and growing of wood in the producing member countries, and of reforestation and forest manhandling. Pre-Projects and Projects are expected to contribute to one or more goals of this Agreement being achieved.

2. The Council, when approving Pre-Projects and Projects, should take into consideration:

a) Its relevance to the objectives of this Agreement;

b) Its environmental and social effects;

c) The convenience of maintaining an appropriate geographical balance;

d) The interests and characteristics of each producing region under development;

e) A convenience of a balanced distribution of the resources between the fields mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article;

f) Your cost-benefit, and

g) The need to avoid duplication of efforts.

3. The Council should establish a timetable and procedure for submission, evaluation and prioritization of Pre-Projects and Projects that will need funds from the Organization, as well as for its implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The Council will decide on the approval of Pre-Projects and Projects for funding and sponsorship, pursuant to the provisions of Articles 20 or 21.

4. The Executive Director will be able to suspend the release of funds from the Organization for a Pre-Project or Project, if they are being used contrary to the project documentation or in cases of fraud, waste, negligence, or mismanagement. The Executive Director will submit to the Council's consideration, at its following meeting, a report. The Council will take appropriate action.

5. The Council, by special vote, will be able to cancel its sponsorship of any Project or Pre-Project.

Article 26
Establishment of the Committees

1. The Committees ora established by the Organization are as follows:

a) Committee on Economic Information and Market Information System;

b) Committee on Reflorestament and Manejo Forest;

c) Committee on Forestry Industry, and

d) Committee on Finance and Administration.

2. The Council, by special vote, will be able to establish other subsidiary committees and bodies that it judges appropriate and necessary.

3. Participation in each committee will be open to all members. The standards of the procedures of the committees shall be decided by the Council.

4. The committees and subsidiary bodies mentioned in the paragraphs 1st and 2nd of this Article shall be responsible to the Council and will work under the general direction of the latter. Meetings of the committee and subsidiary bodies shall be convened by the Council.

Article 27
Functions of the Committees

1. The Economic Information and Information System Committee of the Market should:

a) Maintain under constant review the availability and quality of statistics and other information required by the Organization;

b) Analyze the statistical data and specific indicators selected by the Council for the monitoring of international timber trade;

c) Maintain under continuous review the market wood international, its present situation and the near-term prospects, based on the data mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) above and other relevant information, including information regarding informal trade;

d) Make recommendations to the Council on the need and nature of appropriate studies on tropical wood, including prices, market elasticity, potential for product replacement in the market, marketing of new products and long-term prospects for the international tropical timber market; and monitor and review studies commissioned by the Council.

e) Realize any other aspects related to aspects economic, technical and statistical of wood, as per the Council's determination,

f) Assist in the provision of technical cooperation for improvement of the relevant statistical services of the member countries in development.

2. The Committee on Forestry and Forest Manhandling should:

a) Promote cooperation among members as partners in the development of forest activities in the member countries, inter alia, in the following areas:

i) Reflorestament;

ii) Rehabilitation;

iii) Forest Manejo;

b) Encourage increased technical assistance and the transfer of technology in the fields of reforestation and forest manhandling in developing countries;

c) Follow up on ongoing activities in this field, and identify and examine problems and possible solutions in cooperation with competent organizations;

d) To regularly review the future needs of international trade, of industrialized tropical timber, and to identify and examine, on that basis, possible appropriate schemes and measures in the field of reforestation, rehabilitation and forest manhandling;

and) Facilitate the transfer of knowledge in the field of reforestation and forest manhandling, with the assistance of competent organizations;

f) Coordinate and harmonize these activities for the cooperation, in the field of reforestation and forest manure, with the relevant activities exerted alhures, such as those under the Auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), regional development banks and other competent organizations.

3. The Forest Industry Committee should:

a) Promote cooperation among member countries as partners in the development of processing activities in the producing member countries, inter alia, in the following areas:

i) Development of production by means of technology transfer;

ii) 0Desenvolvimento and human resource training;

iii) Standardizing the nomenclature of tropical woods;

iv) Harmonization of the specifications of processed products;

v) Stimulus to investments and joint ventures;

vi) Commercialization, including the promotion of lesser-known and used species.

b) Promoting the exchange of information to facilitate the structural changes involved in the additional and growing processing, of interest from all member countries and, in particular, of the developing member countries;

c) to follow up on ongoing activities in this field, and to identify and examine problems and possible solutions in cooperation with the competent organizations;

d) Encourage increased technical cooperation for the processing of tropical woods for the benefit of the producing member countries.

4. To promote the development work of policies and projects of the Organization in a balanced way, the Economic Information and Market Information System Committee, the Forestry & Forestry Committee and the Industry Committee Forest should:

a) Respond for the assurance of an appreciation, monitoring and effective evaluation of the Pre-Projects and Projects;

b) Make recommendations to the Council regarding the Pre-Projects and Projects;

c) Follow up on the implementation of Pre-Projects and Projects and respond by the collection dissemination of their results as widely as possible, to the benefit of all members;

d) Develop and take forward the policy ideas of the Council;

e) Resee regularly the results of the Projects and the policy development work and make recommendations to the Advice on the future of the Organization's program;

f) To regularly review the strategies, criteria, and priority areas for the development of programs and work projects contained in the Action Plan of the Organization, and recommend revisions to the Council;

g) Take into consideration the need to strengthen the process of empowering human resources development in the member countries;

h) Perform any other tasks concerning the objectives of this Agreement that are assigned to them by the Council.

5. Research and development will be a common function to the Committees mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

6. The Finance and Administration Committee should:

a) Examine and make recommendations to the Council regarding the approval of the Organization's administrative proposals and budget and the Organization's management operations;

b) Resee the Organization's assets to ensure its prudent management and that Organization has sufficient reserves to carry out its work;

c) Examine and make recommendations to the Advice on the budgetary implications of the Organization's annual work program, and the actions that can be taken to maintain the resources necessary to implement it;

d) To recommend to the Board the choice of independent auditors and review the reports they have carried out;

e) recommend to the Board modifications that judging necessary to the Standards of Procedures or the Financial Standards,

f) Resee the revenue of the Organization and assess to what extent this constrains the work of the secretariat.

Chapter VIII
Relationship to the Common Product Fund of Base

Article 28
Relationship to the Common Base Products Fund

The Organization should take advantage of the Maximum the resources of the Common Base Products Fund.

Chapter IX
Statistics, Studies and Information

Article 29
Statistics, Studies, and Information

1. The Council will establish a close relationship with intergovernmental, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, to help ensure the availability of recent and reliable data and information on the timber trade tropical, as well as relevant information on non-tropical wood and the manhandling of wood producing forests. As deemed necessary for the operationalization of this Agreement, the Organization, in cooperation with such organizations, shall compile, confront, and, when relevant, publish, statistical information on production, supply, trade, stockpiles, consumption and market price of wood, the amount of the timber resources and the manhandling of wood producing forests.

2. Members should, as far as possible and compatible with their legislation national, provide, within a reasonable time limit, statistics and information on wood, its trade and activities aimed at achieving the sustainable manhandling of wood-producing forests, as well as any other information relevant requested by the Council. The Council will decide on the type of information to be provided, in the terms of this paragraph, and on the format in which it is to be submitted.

3. The Council will arrange for any relevant studies to be carried out on the trends, short-and long-term problems of the international timber market and on progress towards achieving the sustainable manhandling of the wood-producing forests.

Article 30
Annual Report and Revision

1. The Board will publish, up to six months after the closing of each year, an annual report of its activities and other information that it judges pertinent.

2. The Council should annually review and determine:

a) The international situation of the wood;

b) Other factors, issues and development considered relevant to the attainable of the objectives of this Agreement.

3. The review is to be carried out in the light of:

a) Information provided by members in relation to national production, trade, supply, inventories, consumption and prices of wood;

b) Other data statistical and specific indicators provided by members, as per the Council's request;

c) Information provided by members on their progress towards the sustainable manhandling of their producing forests of wood;

d) Any other relevant information put at the disposal of the Council either directly or by means of organizations of the United Nations system and by intergovernmental, governmental or governmental organizations nongovernmental.

4. The Council will promote the exchange of points-of-view among the member countries on:

a) The status of sustainable manhandling, wood producing forests and correlates issues in the member countries;

b) Resource flows and the requirements in relation to the objectives, criteria and guidelines defined by the Organization.

5. Upon request, the Council will engage in broadening the technical capacity of member states, in particular of the developing member states, to obtain the data necessary for the appropriate sharing of information, including supply for the members of resources for training and facilities.

6. The results of the review are to be included in the reports of the Council's deliberations.

Chapter X
Various

Article 31
Complaints and Disputes

Any claim that any member has left to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement and any controversy over the interpretation or application of this Agreement will be lead to the decision of the Council. The Council's decisions on these issues will be final and mandatory.

Article 32
General obligations of the Members

1. The members, while endure this Agreement, shall make their best efforts and cooperate to promote the achieving of the objectives of the Agreement and to prevent any action that is contrary to it.

2. The members undertake to accept and implement the decisions of the Council, pursuant to the provisions and of this Agreement, and should refrain from implementing measures that have the effect of limiting them or countering them

Article 33
Exemption from Obligations

1. Where necessary, due to exceptional circumstances or emergency or force majee, not expressly provided for in this Agreement, the Council, by special vote, may dismiss a member of some obligation under this Agreement, if it finds satisfactory the explanation of that member for the reasons why the obligation could not be fulfilled.

2. The Council, by granting the exemption to some member pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, should explain the terms, conditions and the period by which the Member will be relieved of his obligations and the reasons for which the exemption was granted.

Article 34
Differential and Corrective Measures and Special Measures

1. The importing members of developing countries whose interests are adversely affected by measures taken pursuant to this Agreement, may request the differential and corrective board. The Council shall consider the adoption of appropriate measures of agreement disposed of in section III, paragraphs 3 and 4 of resolution 93 (IV) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

2. The members of the category of countries of minor relative development, definition of the United Nations, may ask the Council for special measures pursuant to section III, paragraph 4, of resolution 93 (IV) and paragraphs 56 and 57 of the Paris Declaration and Action program in the 90 for the Minor Developing Countries Relative.

Article 35
Review

The Council will review the scope of this Agreement 4 years after its entry into force.

Article 36
Non-Discrimination

Nothing in this Agreement authorizes the use of measures to restrict or ban international trade in timber and wood products, and, in particular, the related measures with its import and utilization.

Chapter XI
Final clauses

Article 37
Depository

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be designated depositary of this Agreement.

Article 38
Signature, Ratification, Acceptance and Approval

1. This Agreement shall be open, at the headquarters of the United Nations, from to one month after the date of its entry into force, the signature by the Governments invited to the United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the Agreement International Tropical Wood of 1983.

2. Any Government referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may:

a) at the time of the signing of this Agreement, declare that its signature expresses consent to contract to the obligations of this Agreement (definitive signature), or

b) after the signing of this Agreement, ratify it, accept it, or approve it upon deposit of instrument for that purpose, together with the depositary.

Article 39
Access

1. This Agreement shall be open to accession by the Governments of all States under the conditions laid down by the Council, which shall include a deadline for the deposit of instrument of accession. The Council may, in the meantime, authorize extensions of time limits for those Governments which are unable to join within the limit set in the conditions for accession.

2. Accession shall take effect by the deposit of instrument of accession, together with the depositary.

Article 40
Notification of Provisional Application

A signatory Government wishing to ratify, accept or approve this Agreement, or a Government for which the Council has established conditions of accession but which has not yet been able to deposit its instrument of accession, may at any time notify the depositary that it will apply this Agreement provisionally as soon as the same enters into force, pursuant to Article 41, or, if it is already in force, at a specified date.

Article 41
Entry into Vigor

1. This Agreement will enter into force definitively on the day first of February 1995 or at a later date, if 1.2 Governments of the producing countries, with at least 55% of the total votes as set out in Annex A of this Agreement, and 16 Governments of the consuming countries, with at least 70% of the total votes, as set out by Annex 13 to this Agreement, have either signed it definitively, or ratified, accepted or approved, or still to be acceded to, in accordance with Article 38, paragraph 2nd, or Article 39.

2. If this Agreement has not entered into force definitively on the day first of February 1995, it will enter into force provisionally on that date or another date, within six months from then, if 10 Governments of the producing countries, with at least 50% of the total votes, as set out by Annex A of this Agreement, and 1.4 Governments of the consuming countries, with at least 65% of the total votes, as set out by Annex 13 to this Agreement, have signed it definitely, or ratified, accepted or approved, in accordance with the one set out in Article 38, paragraph 2º, or notified the depositary, pursuant to Article 40, that they will apply this Agreement provisionally.

3. If the requirements for entry into force pursuant to paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article have not been met until the first of September 1995, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall invite the Governments to have signed this Agreement definitely or that have ratified it, accepted or approved, in compliance, with the provisions of Article 38, paragraph 2, or that they have notified the depositary that they will apply this Agreement provisionally, to be reunited the most briefly possible to decide whether this Agreement will enter into force, among them, provisional or definitively, in whole or in part. The Governments that decide for the entry into force of this Agreement, provisionally, among them, will be able to meet, from time to time, to review the situation and decide whether the Agreement will enter into force definitively between them.

4. For the Government which has not notified the depositary, under the provisions of Article 40, that it would implement this Agreement provisionally, and that it shall deposit its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession after the entry into force of this Agreement, this Agreement will enter into force on the date of that deposit.

5. The Executive Director of the Organization shall convene the Council as soon as possible after the entry into force of this Agreement.

Article 42
Amendment

1. The Council, by special vote, will be able to recommend to the members amendments to this Agreement.

2. The Council shall fix a cut-off date for notification to the depositary of acceptance of the amendments by the members.

3. Any amendment shall enter into force 90 days after receipt by the depositary of acceptance notifications by at least two-thirds of the producing members, with a minimum of 75% of the votes of the producer members, and of at least two-thirds of the consumers, with a minimum of 75% of the votes of the consuming members.

4. After the depositary has informed the Council that the requirements for the entry into force of an amendment have been complied with, and notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article on the date set by the Council, any Member may further notify the depositary of its acceptance to the amendment, provided that such notification is made before its entry into force.

5. Any member who has not notified its acceptance to an amendment until the date of its entry into force, will cease to be a party to this Agreement as of that date unless logre satisfies the Council that acceptance cannot be obtained on time due to difficulties in the performance of the constitutional or institutional procedures, and the Council decides to extend to this member the deadline for acceptance of the amendment. This member will not be obliged by the amendment before it has notified its acceptance.

6. If the requirements for the entry into force of an amendment have not been fulfilled by the date fixed by the Council, pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article, the amendment shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

Article 43

Retreat

1. A Member may withdraw from this Agreement at any time after its entry into force, upon written notification of its withdrawal to the depositary. That member shall simultaneously inform the Council of the measure taken.

2. The withdrawal will take effect 90 days after the receipt of the notification by the depositary.

3. The financial obligations towards the Organization, contracted by a member under this Agreement, do not extinguish with its withdrawal.

Article 44

Exclusion

If the Board decides that a member is in short supply with its obligations, according to this Agreement, and further decide that this lack undermines the operationalization of the Agreement, he may, by vote special, exclude this member of the Agreement. The Council shall then notify the depositary, then, immediately. Six months after the date of the Council's decision, the excluded member will cease to be a party to this Agreement.

Article 45
Accounts of Accounts with Members who have Withdrawn or have been
Excluded or Incapacitated Members of Accepting an Amendment

1. The Council shall determine any reckoning with a member cementing to be a party to this Agreement due to:

a) non-acceptance of an amendment to this Agreement under the provisions of Article 42.

b) withdrawal from this Agreement according to the provisions of Article 43, or

c) exclusion of this Agreement under Article 44.

2. The Council shall retain any contributions paid to the Account of Management, Special Account or to the Bali Partnership Fund by the Member who cede to be a party to this Agreement.

3. A member who has ceased to be a party to this Agreement, shall not have the right to share in the revenue from the liquidation or other assets of the Organization. It will have no obligation to carry out payment by instalment of eventual deficit of the Organization, when the termination of this Agreement.

Article 46
Duration, Prolongation and End

1. This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of four years after its entry into force, unless the Council, by special vote, decides to extend it, renegotiate it or terminate it under the provisions of this Article.

2. The Council, by special vote, will be able to decide to extend this Agreement for two periods of three years each.

3. If, prior to the expiration of the four-year period mentioned by paragraph 1 of this Article, or prior to the expiration of one of the extension periods mentioned in paragraph 2 of this Article, as the case may be, a new agreement has been negotiated for replace this Agreement, but the new agreement has not yet entered into force definitively or provisionally, the Council, by special vote, will be able to extend the term of this Agreement until the final or provisional entry into force of the new agreement.

4. If a new agreement is negotiated and enters into force during the period of extension of this Agreement, according to the provisions of paragraphs 2 or 3 of this Article, this Agreement, extended, shall end with the entry into force of the new agreement.

5. The Council, by special vote, may at any time be able to decide to terminate this Agreement with effect from the date on which to determine so much.

6. Notwithstanding the termination of this Agreement, the Council will continue to be in charge, for a period that will not exceed 18 months, to carry out the liquidation of the Organization, including the reckoning, and, depending on the relevant decisions that adopt by vote special, will have during that period the powers and functions necessary for such purposes.

7. Council shall notify the depositary of any decisions taken to the amparo of this Article.

Article 47
Right reservation

No reservations may be made to any of the provisions of this Article Agreement.

Article 48
Supplementary Clauses and Transitional

1. This Agreement will succeed to the International Tropical Timber Agreement 1983.

2. All acts practiced by the Organization or on its behalf, or from any of its organs, pursuant to the 1983 International Tropical Timber Agreement, which are in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement, and whose terms do not have on their expiration on that date, will remain in effect unless they are amended under the provisions of this Agreement.

In testimony to what, the undersigned, duly accredited parties have signed this Agreement in the dates indicated.

Made in Geneva, in twenty-six January, from a thousand nine hundred and ninety-four, the text of this Agreement in the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, being equally authentic.