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1458 OF 2011
(June 29)
Official Journal No. 48.116 of 30 June 2011
CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC
By means of which the "International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006" is approved, made in Geneva on January 27, 2006.
THE CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC
Seen the text of the "International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006", made in Geneva on January 27, 2006.
(To be transcribed: A full and faithful photocopy is attached to the Spanish copy of the Convention, certified by the Legal Department of the General Secretariat of the United Nations, which consists of 34 folios; a document that rests on the archives of the Legal Advisory Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
BILL OF LAW 105 OF 2009 SENATED
by means of which the "International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006" is approved, made in Geneva on January 27, 2006.
The Congress of the Republic
Seen the text of the "International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006", made in Geneva on January 27, 2006.
(To be transcribed: A full and faithful photocopy is attached to the Spanish copy of the Convention, certified by the Legal Department of the General Secretariat of the United Nations, which consists of 34 folios; a document that rests on the archives of the Legal Advisory Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER CONVENTION, 2006 PREAMBLE
Parties to this Convention
a) Remembering the Declaration and Program of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, the Integrated Program for Basic Products, the New Partnership for Development and the Spirit of São Paulo and the Consensus of São Paulo, approved by the XI UNCTAD;
b) Remembering also the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1983, and the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994, and recognizing the work done by the International Organization of the Maderas Tropical and the achievements since its inception, including a strategy to ensure that international trade in tropical timber comes from sustainable forest resources;
c) Further recalling the Johannesburg Declaration and the Implementation Plan adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002, the United Nations Forum on Established Forests in October 2000 and the related creation of the Partnership for Cooperation on Forests, of which the International Tropical Timber Organization is a member, as well as the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development, the Declaration The European Commission has been authorized, without mandatory legal force, to establish principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests of all types, and the relevant chapters of Agenda 21 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992, the Convention United Nations Framework on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification;
d) Acknowledging that States, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources in application of their own policy (a) the environment and the responsibility for ensuring that the activities carried out within or under its jurisdiction do not prejudice the environment of other States or areas outside the national jurisdiction, as set out in the paragraph (a) of Principle 1 of the authorised declaration, without compulsory legal force, of principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests of all types;
e) Recognizing the importance of timber trade and related products for the economies of timber producing countries;
f) Recognising also the multiple economic, environmental and social benefits provided by forests, including timber and non-timber forest products and environmental services, in the context of the sustainable forest management, at local, national and global levels, and the contribution of sustainable forest management to sustainable development and poverty alleviation and the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, in The content of the Millennium Declaration;
g) Recognizing also the need to promote and apply comparable criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management as important tools for all members to evaluate, monitor and promote progress towards the sustainable management of their forests;
(h) Taking into account existing relationships between tropical timber trade and the international timber market and the global economy as a whole, as well as the need to adopt a global outlook for improve the transparency of international timber trade;
i) reaffirming their full willingness to move as quickly as possible toward the goal of getting tropical timber exports and products from these woods to come from ordered forest resources. Sustainable form (Objective 2000 of the International Tropical Timber Organization) and recalling the establishment of the Bali Cooperation Fund;
j) Remembering the commitment made by consumer members in January 1994 to maintain or achieve sustainable management of their forests;
k) Noting the role of good public affairs management, clear land tenure agreements, and cross-sectoral coordination to achieve sustainable forest management and timber exports from legitimate sources;
1) Recognizing the importance of collaboration among members, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society, including indigenous and local communities, as well as other stakeholders in promoting sustainable forest management;
m) Recognising also the importance of such collaboration to improve the implementation of forest legislation and to promote the legally exploited timber trade;
n) Observing that increasing the capacity of indigenous and local communities that rely on forests, and in particular forest owners and managers, can contribute to achieving the objectives of this Convention;
o) Also observing the need to improve the standard of living and working conditions in the forest sector, taking into account the internationally recognized principles on these issues and the conventions and relevant instruments of the International Labour Organisation;
p) Taking note that, compared to competing products, wood is an energy efficient, renewable and environmentally friendly raw material;
q) Acknowledging the need for greater investments in sustainable forest management, including by reinvesting generated forest and timber-related income;
r) Recognising also the benefits of market prices reflecting the costs of sustainable forest management;
s) Recognizing further the need for greater financial resources from a broad donor community, and for these resources to be predictable, in order to contribute to the achievement of the present objectives Convention;
t) Taking note of the special needs of the least developed countries that are tropical timber producers.
The following have been agreed:
OBJECTIVES.
OBJECTIVES.
The objectives of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006 (hereinafter "the present Convention"), are to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from sustainably ordered forests and legally taking advantage of and promoting sustainable management of tropical timber producing forests:
a) Providing an effective framework for consultation, international cooperation and policy-making among all members in relation to all relevant aspects of the global timber economy;
b) Providing a forum of consultations to promote the use of non-discriminatory practices in timber trade;
c) Contributing to sustainable development and poverty reduction;
d) Reforcing the ability of members to implement strategies to ensure that timber and tropical timber exports come from sustainably managed forest resources;
(e) Promoting better knowledge of the structural conditions of the international markets, including long-term trends in consumption and production, factors affecting market access, and consumer preferences. consumer and price and price-friendly conditions that reflect the costs of sustainable forest management;
f) Promoting and supporting research and development with a view to improving forest management and the efficient use of timber and the competitiveness of wood products in relation to other materials, and increasing the capacity to conserve and strengthen other forest values in forests, tropical timber producers;
g) Developing mechanisms to provide new and additional financial resources with a view to promoting the sufficiency and predictability of the funds and expertise needed to increase capacity of the producer members to achieve the objectives of this Convention, as well as contributing to such mechanisms;
h) Improving market information and encouraging an exchange of information on the international timber market, with a view to achieving greater transparency and better information on markets and market trends, including the meeting, compilation and dissemination of trade data, including data on traded species;
i) Promoting better and more advanced transformation processes of tropical timber extracted from sustainably ordered forest resources in producer member countries, with a view to promoting their industrialization and increasing their job opportunities and their export earnings;
j) Encouraging members to support and develop the restocking of tropical timber forests, as well as the rehabilitation and regeneration of degraded forest lands, taking into account the interests of local communities that depend on forest resources;
k) Improving the marketing and distribution of timber exports and tropical timber products extracted from sustainably ordered forest resources and legal exploitation and trade, in particular by promoting the awareness-raising of consumers;
1) Strengthening the ability of members to collect, develop and disseminate statistics on their timber trade, as well as to report on the sustainable management of their tropical forests;
m) Encouraging members to develop national policies aimed at sustainable use and conservation of timber-producing forests and maintaining ecological balance in the context of tropical timber trade;
n) Strengthening the capacity of members to improve the implementation of forest law and governance, as well as to tackle illegal logging and related trade in tropical timber;
o) Encouraging the exchange of information to improve the knowledge of voluntary mechanisms such as, among others, certification, in order to promote the sustainable management of tropical forests, and assisting members in their efforts in this scope;
p) Promoting access to technologies and their transfer and technical cooperation to meet the objectives of this Convention, in particular on favourable terms and preferential terms to be determined by common agreement;
q) Promoting a better understanding of the contribution of non-timber forest products and environmental services to the sustainable management of tropical forests with the aim of strengthening the capacity of members to develop strategies to strengthen such a contribution in the context of sustainable forest management, and to cooperate with the relevant institutions and processes for this purpose;
r) Encouraging members to recognize the role of indigenous and local communities, which rely on forest resources in achieving sustainable forest management and develop strategies to strengthen capacity of these communities for the sustainable management of forests that produce tropical timber; and
s) Identifying and addressing new and relevant issues that may arise.
DEFINITIONS.
DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Convention:
1. Tropical timber is defined as tropical timber for industrial uses which originate or are produced in the countries between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The expression includes the trunks, the boards, the sheets and the plywood.
2. 'Sustainable forest management' shall mean what is set out in the relevant policy documents and technical guidelines of the Organization.
3. 'member' means any government, the European Community or any intergovernmental organisation referred to in Article 5, which has consented to be bound by this Convention, whether or not it is in force; on a provisional basis as if it is final.
4. 'Producer member' means any member situated between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn with tropical forest resources or any net exporter of tropical timber in terms of volume listed in Annex A and which become a Party to this Convention, or any member with tropical forest resources or any net exporter of tropical timber in terms of volume not listed in that Annex and which becomes a Party to this Convention and which, with their consent has been declared a producer member by the Council.
5. 'Consumer member' means any importer of tropical timber listed in Annex B which becomes a Party to this Convention or any importer of tropical timber not listed in that Annex which becomes a Party to the Convention. this Convention and which, with the consent of that Member, has been declared a consumer by the Council.
6. "Organization" means the International Tropical Timber Organization established in accordance with Article 3.
7. "Council" means the International Tropical Timber Council established in accordance with Article 6.
8. 'Special vote' means a vote requiring at least two-thirds of the votes cast by the present and voting members and at least 60% of the votes cast by the present and voting members of the consumer, counted separately, provided that such votes are cast by at least half of the producing members present and voters and at least half of the consumer members present and voting.
9. "Simple distributed majority voting" means a vote requiring more than half of the votes cast by the present and voting member members and more than half of the votes cast by the present consumer members and voters, counted separately.
10. 'Economic biennium' means the period from 1 January to 31 December of the following year.
11. 'freely usable convertible currencies' means the euro, the Japanese yen sterling, the Swiss franc and the US dollar and any other currency which, by designation at any time of a monetary organisation, is international competent, is a currency that is used effectively and widely to make payments for international transactions and is effectively and broadly negotiated in the main currency markets.
12. For the purposes of calculating the distribution of votes in accordance with paragraph 2 (b) of Article 10, "tropical forest resources" means natural dense forests and plantations. forest between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.
HEADQUARTERS AND STRUCTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION.
1. The International Tropical Timber Organization established under the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1983, shall remain in office to implement the provisions and monitor the functioning of this Convention.
2. The Organization shall operate through the Council established in accordance with Article 6, of the committees and other subsidiary bodies referred to in Article 26 and of the Executive Director and staff.
3. The seat of the Organization shall be at any time situated in the territory of a member.
4. The headquarters of the Organization shall be located in Yokohama, unless the Council, by special vote in accordance with Article 12, decides otherwise.
5. Regional offices of the Organization may be established if the Council so decides by special vote in accordance with Article 12.
MEMBERS OF THE ORGANIZATION.
There will be two member categories in the Organization:
a) Producers; and
b) Consumers.
PARTICIPATION OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS.
1. Any reference made in this Convention to 'governments' shall be interpreted as meaning that it includes the European Community and other intergovernmental organisations which have comparable responsibilities in respect of the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of international agreements, in particular commodity agreements. Consequently, any reference made in this Convention to the signature, ratification, acceptance or approval or to the notification of provisional application or to accession shall be interpreted, in the case of such organisations, in the sense of which includes a reference to the signature, ratification, acceptance or approval, or notification of provisional application, or accession by such organisations.
2. In the event of a vote on matters falling within its competence, the European Community and the other intergovernmental organisations referred to in paragraph 1 shall have a number of votes equal to the total votes which may be allocated to their Member States. members who are Parties to the Convention in accordance with Article 10. In such cases, the Member States of such organisations shall not be entitled to issue the votes assigned to each of them.
THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER COUNCIL.
COMPOSITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER COUNCIL.
1. The supreme authority of the Organization shall be the International Tropical Timber Council, which shall be composed of all members of the Organization.
2. Each member shall be represented in the Council by a representative and may appoint alternates and advisers to attend the meetings of the Council.
3. Alternates shall be entitled to act and vote on behalf of the representative in the absence of such representative or in special circumstances.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL.
The Council shall exercise all powers and shall perform, or shall perform, all the functions necessary to comply with the provisions of this Convention. In particular:
(a) Approve, by special vote in accordance with Article 12, the statutes and regulations that are necessary to comply with the provisions of this Convention and compatible with them, such as as its own regulations, the financial regulation and the staff regulations of the Organization. The financial regulation shall include, inter alia, revenue and expenditure of funds in accordance with the accounts established under Article 18. The Council may provide in its rules of procedure a procedure allowing it to decide on certain matters without meeting;
b) Adopt decisions that are necessary to ensure effective and effective functioning and administration of the Organization; and
(c) The Council shall carry the necessary documentation for the performance of the tasks conferred upon it by this Convention.
PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
1. The Council shall elect a President and a Vice-President for each calendar year, whose salaries shall not be paid by the Organization.
2. The President and the Vice-President shall be elected, one of the representatives of the producer members, and the other of the representatives of the consumer members.
3. Those charges shall be alternated each year between the two categories of members, which shall not prevent, in exceptional circumstances, one or both of them being re-elected.
4. In the event of temporary absence of the President, the Vice-President shall assume his duties. In the event of the simultaneous temporary absence of the President and the Vice-President, or in the absence of one or both of them, for as long as the period for which they were elected, the Council may elect new holders of those posts. between the representatives of the producer members and/or of the representatives of the consumer members, as the case may be, on a temporary basis or for the remainder of the period for which their predecessors were elected.
COUNCIL MEETINGS.
1. As a general rule, the Council shall hold at least one regular meeting each year.
2. The Council shall hold extraordinary meetings whenever it decides or at the request of any member or of the Executive Director, in agreement with the President and the Vice-President of the Council, and
a) Most of the producing members or most of the consumer members; or
b) Most members.
3. Council meetings shall be held at the headquarters of the Organization, unless the Council, by special vote in accordance with Article 12, decides otherwise. In this respect, the Council shall endeavour to convene alternate meetings of the Council outside the seat, preferably in a producer country.
4. Before deciding on the frequency and location of its meetings, the Council shall ensure that sufficient funds are available.
5. The convening of meetings, as well as the programmes of such meetings, shall be notified to the members by the Executive Director at least six weeks in advance, except in cases of urgency, in which the notification shall be made at least with seven days in advance.
DISTRIBUTION OF VOTES.
1. The producer members shall have a total of 1,000 votes and the consumer members shall have a total of 1,000 votes.
2. The votes of the producer members shall be distributed as follows:
a) Four hundred votes will be distributed equally among the three producing regions of Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The votes thus assigned to each of these regions shall then be distributed equally among the producers in the respective region;
(b) Three hundred votes shall be distributed among the producing members according to their respective participation in all tropical forest resources of all producer members; and
(c) Three hundred votes shall be distributed among the producer members proportionally to the average of their respective net exports of tropical timber during the most recent three-year period for which final figures are available.
3. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, the total of the votes allocated to the producer members of the region of Africa, calculated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article, shall be distributed equally among all the producers in the region of Africa. If votes are still to be distributed, each of those votes shall be allocated to an African producer member as follows: the first shall be assigned to the producer member to whom the largest number of votes has been allocated on the basis of the paragraph 2 of this article, the second to the producer member following the number of votes allocated, and so on until all remaining votes have been allocated,
4. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Article, the votes of the consumer members shall be distributed as follows: each consumer member shall have ten initial votes; the remainder of the votes shall be distributed among the members consumers proportionally to the average of their respective net tropical timber imports over the five-year period starting six calendar years before the distribution of votes.
5. The votes allocated to a consumer member for a given biennium shall not exceed 5% of the votes allocated to that member for the previous biennium. The surplus of the votes will be distributed among the consumer members proportionally to the average of their respective net imports of tropical woods during the five-year period beginning six calendar years before the distribution of the votes.
6. The Council may, if it considers it appropriate, adjust by special vote in accordance with Article 12, the minimum percentage required for a special vote by the consumer members.
7. The Council shall distribute the votes for each economic biennium at the beginning of its first meeting of that biennium, in accordance with the provisions of this Article. Such distribution shall remain in force for the remainder of the biennium, subject to the provisions of paragraph 8 of this Article.
8. Whenever the composition of the Organization changes or the voting rights of any member are suspended or re-established in accordance with any provision of this Convention, the Council shall redistribute the votes within the category or the the categories of members concerned, as provided for in this Article. The Council shall decide, in such a case, when such redistribution of votes shall take effect.
9. There will be no fractional votes.
COUNCIL VOTE PROCEDURE.
1. Each member shall be entitled to issue the number of votes he holds and no member shall be entitled to divide his votes. However, any member may issue in a different manner to that of his own votes the votes he is authorized to cast in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article.
2. By written notification to the President of the Council, any producer member may, under his own responsibility, authorise any other producer member, and any consumer may, under his own responsibility, authorise the any other consumer to represent their interests and cast their votes in any Council session.
3. When a member is abstaining, they shall be deemed not to have cast their votes.
COUNCIL DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
1. The Council will do its utmost to take all its decisions and make all its recommendations by consensus.
2. If consensus cannot be achieved, the Council will take all its decisions and make all its recommendations by simple-distributed majority voting, unless this Convention provides for a special vote.
3. Where a member is engaged in the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 11 and votes are cast in a Council session, that member shall be considered, for the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, as present and voter.
QUORUM IN THE COUNCIL.
1. The presence of the majority of the members of each of the categories referred to in Article 4shall constitute a quorum for any session of the Council, provided that such members meet at least two thirds of the total votes of their respective categories.
2. If there is no quorum in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article on the day fixed for the next sitting or the following day, the presence of the majority of the members of each of the categories to which it is made shall constitute a quorum on the following days of the meeting. reference in Article 4, provided that such members gather the majority of the total votes of their respective categories.
3. Any representation authorised in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 11shall be deemed to be present.
THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF.
1. The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Council by special vote in accordance with Article 12.
2. The Council shall determine the modalities and conditions for the appointment of the Executive Director.
3. The Executive Director shall be the highest administrative officer of the Organization and shall be responsible to the Council for the administration and operation of this Convention in accordance with the decisions of the Council.
4. The Executive Director shall appoint staff in accordance with the Staff Regulations laid down by the Council. The staff shall be accountable to the Executive Director.
5. No financial interest in the industry or trade in timber or in related business activities shall be of interest to the Executive Director or any staff member.
6. In the performance of their duties, the Executive Director and the staff shall not request or receive instructions from any member or any authority outside the Organization and shall refrain from any action which may discredit their status as a International officials ultimately responsible to the Council. Each member shall respect the exclusively international character of the functions of the Executive Director and staff and shall not seek to influence them in the performance of their duties.
COOPERATION AND COORDINATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
1. In order to achieve the objectives of this Convention, the Council shall adopt the provisions which are necessary to hold consultations or to cooperate with the United Nations and its specialised bodies and bodies, in particular the Conference of United Nations on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and other relevant regional and international organisations and institutions, as well as the private sector, non-governmental organisations and civil society.
2. The Organization shall use, to the maximum extent possible, the facilities, services and technical expertise of intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector, in order to avoid duplication of efforts in achieving the objectives of this Convention and enhancing the complementarity and efficiency of its activities.
3. The Organization shall make full use of the services provided by the Common Fund for Basic Products.
ADMISSION OF OBSERVERS.
The Council may invite any Member State or United Nations observer not Party to this Convention, or any organization referred to in Article 15 , to have an interest in the activities of the Organization, to attend the meetings of the Council as observers.
PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.
PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.
1. The Organization shall have legal personality. In particular, it shall be empowered to contract, acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property and to litigate.
2. The legal status and privileges and immunities of the Organization, its Executive Director, its staff and its experts, and the representatives of the members on the territory of Japan, shall continue to be governed by the Agreement of Headquarters signed in Tokyo on 27 February 1988 between the Government of Japan and the International Tropical Timber Organization, with the amendments necessary for the proper functioning of this Convention.
3. The Organization may conclude agreements with one or more countries, which shall be approved by the Council, on the powers, privileges and immunities necessary for the proper functioning of this Convention.
4. If the seat of the Organization is transferred to another country, the member concerned shall, as soon as possible, arrange with the Organization a seat agreement to be approved by the Council. As long as that agreement is reached, the Organization will ask the new host government to exempt, within the limits of its legislation, the remuneration paid by the Organization to its officials and the assets, income and other assets. of the Organization.
5. The Headquarters Agreement shall be independent of this Convention. However, it will be terminated:
a) By agreement between the host government and the Organization;
b) In the event that the seat of the Organization is transferred from the host government country; or
c) In case the Organization ceases to exist.
FINANCIAL PROVISIONS.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS.
1. The following accounts shall be established:
a) The Administrative Account, which is an account of assigned contributions;
b) The Special Account and the Bali Cooperation Fund, which are voluntary contributions accounts; and
(c) Other accounts deemed appropriate and necessary by the Council.
2. The Council shall establish, in accordance with Article 7, a financial regulation allowing the transparent management and administration of the accounts, including articles on the clearance of accounts. terminate or expire this Convention.
3. The Executive Director shall be responsible for the administration of the financial accounts and shall report to the Council in that respect.
ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOUNT.
1. The expenditure necessary for the implementation of this Convention shall be charged to the Administrative Account and shall be borne by annual contributions from the members paid in accordance with their respective constitutional or institutional procedures. and assigned in accordance with paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of this article.
2. The Administrative Account shall include:
(a) Basic administrative expenses, such as salaries and benefits, installation expenses and official travel; and
(b) Basic operating expenses, such as those related to communication and disclosure, meetings of experts convened by the Council and the preparation and publication of studies and evaluations, in accordance with Articles 24, 27 , and 28 of this Convention.
3. The expenditure of the delegations to the Council, the committees and the other subsidiary bodies of the Council referred to in Article 26 shall be borne by the members concerned. In cases where a member requests special services from the Organization, the Council shall request that member to pay the cost of those services.
4. Before the end of each economic biennium, the Council shall approve the budget of the Administrative Account of the Organization for the following biennium and shall determine the contribution of each member to that budget.
5. The contributions to the Administrative Account for each economic good will be determined as follows:
(a) The expenditure referred to in paragraph 2 (a) of this Article shall be divided equally between the producer and consumer members and shall be calculated in proportion to the number of votes each member has in the total votes of their respective group;
(b) The expenditure referred to in paragraph 2 (b) of this Article shall be allocated among the members in a proportion of 20% for producers and 80% for consumers, and shall be calculated in proportion to the number of votes in their respective group;
(c) The expenditure referred to in paragraph 2 (b) of this Article shall not exceed one third of the expenditure referred to in paragraph 2 (a) of this Article. The Council may decide by consensus to vary this limit for a particular financial year;
(d) The Council may examine the manner in which the Administrative Account and the voluntary accounts contribute to the efficient and effective functioning of the Organization in the context of the assessment referred to in Article
e) In determining the contributions, the votes of each member shall be calculated without regard to the suspension of the voting rights of any member or the redistribution of votes resulting from it.
6. The initial contribution of any member entering the Organization after the entry into force of this Convention shall be determined by the Council on the basis of the number of votes assigned to it and in the period of the economic biennium in progress, but the contributions imposed on the other members for this economic good will not be modified.
7. Contributions to the Administrative Account shall be payable on the first day of each financial year. The contributions of the members corresponding to the economic good in which they enter the Organization shall be payable on the date on which they become members.
8. If a member has not fully paid his or her contribution to the Administrative Account within four months from the date on which such contribution is payable in accordance with paragraph 7 of this Article, the Executive Director shall request that you make the payment as soon as possible. If that member is still not paying his contribution within two months of that request, he shall be asked to indicate the reasons for which he has not been able to make the payment. If, at the expiry of a period of seven months from the date on which the Member's contribution is payable, the Member remains unpaid, his voting rights shall be suspended until the time he has paid his full contribution. contributing, unless the Council decides otherwise by special vote, in accordance with Article 12. If a member has not fully paid his contribution for two consecutive years, taking into account the provisions laid down in Article 30, that member may not submit proposals for projects or projects for funding under paragraph 1 of Article 25.
9. If a member has fully paid his or her contribution to the Administrative Account within four months from the date on which such contribution is payable under paragraph 7 of this Article, it shall apply to the contribution of that member. member of the discount to be established by the Council in the Financial Regulation of the Organization.
10. Any member whose rights have been suspended pursuant to paragraph 8 of this Article shall continue to be obliged to pay his or her contribution.
SPECIAL ACCOUNT.
1. The Special Account shall be composed of two sub-accounts:
a) The Theme Programs Sub-account; and
b) The Project Sub-account.
2. The possible sources of funding for the Special Account will be:
a) The Common Fund for Basic Products;
b) Regional and international financial institutions;
c) The voluntary contributions of members; and
d) Other sources.
3. The Council shall establish criteria and procedures for the transparent operation of the Special Account. Those procedures shall take into account the need for a balanced representation between members, including contributions, in the operation of the Sub-Account of Thematic Programmes and the Sub-Account of Projects.
4. The purpose of the Thematic Programme Sub-Account shall be to facilitate the collection of contributions which are not previously allocated for the financing of projects, projects and activities which are in accordance with the thematic programmes established by the Council on the basis of policy priorities and projects set out in accordance with Articles 24 and 25.
5. Donors may allocate their contributions to specific thematic programmes or may ask the Executive Director to make proposals for the allocation of their contributions.
6. The Executive Director shall regularly report to the Council on the allocation and expenditure of funds from the Thematic Programme Sub-Account and on the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the projects, projects and activities and on the funds needed for the successful implementation of the thematic programmes.
7. The purpose of the Project Sub-Account shall be to facilitate the collection of contributions for specific purposes for the financing of the projects, projects and activities approved in accordance with Articles 24 and 25.
8. The contributions allocated to the Project Sub-Account shall be used only for the projects, projects and activities to which they were intended, unless the donor decides otherwise in consultation with the Executive Director. After the completion or removal of a preliminary draft, project or activity, the donor shall decide the purpose to be given to any sum that would not have been spent.
9. In order to ensure the necessary predictability of funds for the Special Account, taking into account the voluntary nature of the contributions, members shall endeavour to reconstitute the funds in the account in order to maintain an adequate level of resources for the full implementation of the projects, projects and activities approved by the Council.
10. All revenue for the projects, projects and specific activities of the Project Sub-Account or the Thematic Project Sub-Account shall be paid to the respective sub-account. All expenditure incurred in such projects, projects or activities, including the remuneration and travel expenses of experts, shall be charged to the same sub-account.
11. No member shall be liable, for the fact of being a member of the Organization, for any obligation arising from the actions of other members or other entities in relation to the anteprojects, projects or activities.
12. The Executive Director shall provide assistance for the formulation of proposals for projects, projects and activities in accordance with Articles 24 and 25 and shall seek to obtain, under conditions and modalities which the Council decides, sufficient and secure funding for approved projects, projects and activities.
THE BALI COOPERATION FUND.
1. A Fund is established for the sustainable management of tropical timber producing forests in order to help the producing members to make the necessary investments to achieve the objective set out in point (d) of the Article 1 of this Convention.
2. The Fund shall consist of:
a) The contributions of donor members;
(b) 50% of the revenue earned by the Special Account related activities;
c) Resources from other sources, private and public, that the Organization accepts in accordance with its financial regulation; and
d) Other sources approved by the Council.
3. The Council shall allocate the resources of the Fund only to projects and projects which are related to the purpose set out in paragraph 1 of this Article and have been approved in accordance with the provisions of the href="ley_1458_2011.html#24"> 24 and 25.
4. When allocating resources from the Fund, the Council shall establish criteria and priorities for the use of the Fund, taking into account:
(a) Member assistance needs to ensure that exports of tropical timber and timber products come from sustainably ordered forests;
b) The needs of the members to implement and manage important forest-producing forest conservation programs; and
c) The needs of members to implement sustainable forest management programs.
5. The Executive Director shall provide assistance for the preparation of project proposals in accordance with Article 25 and shall endeavour to obtain, under the conditions and modalities decided by the Council, financing. sufficient and safe for projects approved by the Council.
6. Members shall endeavour to reconstitute the Bali Cooperation Fund up to an appropriate level to achieve the objectives of the Fund.
7. The Council shall examine periodically whether the resources made available to the Fund are sufficient and shall endeavour to obtain the additional resources required by the producer members to achieve the purposes of the Fund.
PAYMENT FORMS.
1. Financial contributions to the accounts established under Article 18 shall be paid in freely convertible currencies and shall be exempt from any currency restrictions.
2. The Council may also decide to accept other forms of contributions to the accounts established under Article 18, except to the administrative account, including material or scientific and technical staff, for address the needs of approved projects.
AUDITING AND PUBLISHING ACCOUNTS.
1. The Council shall appoint independent auditors to check the accounts of the Organization.
2. The statements of the accounts established pursuant to Article 18, as verified by independent auditors, shall be communicated to the members as soon as possible after the closing of each financial year, but more Six months after that date, and shall be examined by the Council for approval at its next meeting, as appropriate. A summary of the accounts and the financial balance checked by the auditors will be published below.
OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES.
POLICY-RELATED ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES.
1. In order to achieve the objectives set out in Article 1, the Organization will undertake activities related to policies and projects in an integrated manner.
2. The activities of the Organization in the field of policies should contribute to the achievement of the objectives of this Convention for ITTO members in general.
3. The Council shall periodically establish an action plan which shall serve as a guideline for policy activities and identify the thematic priorities and programmes referred to in paragraph 4 of Article
PROJECT-RELATED ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES.
1. The members and the Executive Director may submit to the Council proposals for projects and projects contributing to the achievement of the objectives of this Convention and to one or more of the priority areas of work or thematic programmes. identified in the action plan approved by the Council in accordance with Article 24.
2. The Council shall establish criteria for the approval of projects and projects, taking into account, inter alia, their relevance with regard to the objectives of this Convention and the priority areas of work or thematic programmes, environmental and social effects, their relationship with national forestry programmes and strategies, their profitability, the technical and regional needs and the need to avoid duplication of effort and to incorporate experiences collected.
3. The Council shall establish a timetable and procedures for the submission, assessment, approval and establishment of the order of priority for the projects and projects which require funding from the Organisation, as well as for their execution, monitoring and evaluation.
4. The Executive Director may suspend the disbursement of funds from the Organization for a preliminary draft or a project if they are being used contrary to the provisions of the draft document or in cases of fraud, disservice, negligence or bad administration. At the next meeting the Executive Director shall submit a report to the Council. The Council shall take appropriate measures.
5. The Council may, on the basis of agreed criteria, limit the number of projects and projects which any member or the Executive Director may submit in a particular project cycle. The Council may also take appropriate measures, in particular to stop sponsoring temporary or definitively any preliminary draft or draft, in accordance with the Executive Director's report.
SUBSIDIARY COMMITTEES AND ORGANS.
1. They are established as committees of the Organization, open to the participation of all members, the following:
a) Forestry Industry Committee;
b) Economic, Statistics and Markets Committee;
c) Repopulation and Forest Management Committee; and
d) Finance and Administration Committee.
2. The Council may, by special vote in accordance with Article 12, establish or dissolve the subsidiary committees and bodies as appropriate.
3. The Council shall determine the functioning and the field of competence of the committees and other subsidiary bodies. The committees and other subsidiary bodies shall be accountable to the Council and shall work under the authority of the Council.
STATISTICS, STUDIES, AND INFORMATION.
STATISTICS, STUDIES, AND INFORMATION.
1. The Council shall authorize the Executive Director to establish and maintain close relations with relevant intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental organizations for the purpose of contributing to ensuring the availability of recent and reliable data and information, in particular on the production and trade of tropical timber, trends and discrepancies between data, as well as relevant information on non-tropical timber and on the management of wood-producing forests. To the extent deemed necessary for the implementation of this Convention, the Organization shall, in collaboration with those organisations, gather, systematize, analyse and publish such information.
2. The Organization will collaborate in efforts to standardise and harmonise international reports on forest-related issues in order to avoid duplication in the data gathering of different organizations.
3. Member States shall provide, within the time limit set by the Executive Director and to the greatest extent possible in a manner compatible with their national legislation, statistics and information on timber, their trade and activities aimed at to achieve sustainable management of timber-producing forests and any other relevant information requested by the Council. The Council shall decide on the type of information to be provided in accordance with this paragraph and the format in which it shall be submitted.
4. The Council, on request or when necessary, shall endeavour to strengthen the technical capacity of the Member States, and in particular those of the developing Member States, in order to meet the requirements for the presentation of statistics and reports in accordance with this Convention.
5. If a member has not provided for two consecutive years the statistics and information required under paragraph 3 and has not requested the assistance of the Executive Director, the Executive Director shall at first ask that member to provide an explanation within a specified time limit. In the event that no satisfactory explanation is received, the Council shall take such measures as it deems appropriate.
6. The Council will adopt the necessary measures for the implementation of the relevant studies on the short and long-term trends and problems of the international timber markets and the progress made towards the achievement of the a sustainable management of wood-producing forests.
ANNUAL REPORT AND BIENNIAL REVIEW.
1. The Council shall publish an annual report on its activities and any other additional information it deems appropriate.
2. The Council will examine: and assess every two years:
a) The international situation of the woods;
(b) Other factors, issues and events that you consider to be of interest in achieving the objectives of this Convention.
3. The examination shall be carried out taking into account:
a) The information provided by members on national production, trade, supply, stocks, consumption and prices of timber;
b) Other statistical data and specific indicators provided by the members at the request of the Council;
c) The information provided by members on the progress made towards sustainable management of their timber-producing forests;
(d) Any other relevant information available to the Council directly or through the United Nations system organizations and intergovernmental, governmental or non-governmental organizations; and
e) The information provided by members about their progress in establishing control mechanisms and information related to the illegal use and trade of tropical timber and non-timber forest products.
4. The Council will promote the exchange of views between member countries on:
(a) The situation of sustainable management of timber-producing forests and related aspects in the Member States;
b) The resources and resource needs in relation to the objectives, criteria and guidelines established by the Organization.
5. Upon request, the Council shall seek to increase the technical capacity of member countries, in particular developing member countries, to obtain the data necessary for an appropriate exchange of information, including the provision of resources. for training and services to members.
6. The results of the examination shall be included in the reports of the relevant Council meetings.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
MEMBERS ' GENERAL OBLIGATIONS.
l. During the term of this Convention, members shall cooperate with each other and shall make every effort to contribute to the achievement of their objectives and to avoid any action that is contrary to them.
2. Members undertake to accept and implement decisions taken by the Council in accordance with the provisions of this Convention and shall refrain from implementing measures to limit those decisions or to be contrary to them.
EXEMPTION FROM OBLIGATIONS.
1. Where necessary due to exceptional circumstances, emergency situations or cases of force majeure not expressly provided for in this Convention, the Council may, by special vote in accordance with Article 12, exempting any member from any of the obligations imposed by this Convention if it considers satisfactory the explanations given by that member on the reasons why it cannot comply with the obligation.
2. In granting a member an exemption pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, the Council shall expressly state under which conditions and modalities and for how long that member is exempted from that obligation, as well as the reasons why grants the exemption.
CLAIMS AND CONTROVERSIES.
Any member may submit to the Council any complaint against a member for failure to comply with the obligations imposed on him by this Convention and any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention. Council decisions in this respect shall be taken by consensus, without prejudice to other provisions of this Convention, and shall be final and binding.
DIFFERENTIAL AND CORRECTIVE MEASURES AND SPECIAL MEASURES.
1. Consumers who are developing countries whose interests are harmed by measures taken in accordance with this Convention may request the Council to take appropriate differential and corrective measures. The Council shall examine the adoption of appropriate measures in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of Section III of Resolution 93 (IV) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
2. The members falling within the category of the least developed countries defined by the United Nations may request the Council to adopt special measures in accordance with paragraph 4 of Section III of resolution 93 (IV) and with the Paragraphs 56 and 57 of the Paris Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade of 1990.
REVIEW.
The Council may review the implementation of this Convention, including its objectives and financial mechanisms, five years after its entry into force.
NO DISCRIMINATION.
No provision of this Convention shall authorise the use of measures to restrict or prohibit international trade in timber and timber products, in particular those affecting their imports and their use.
FINAL PROVISIONS.
DEPOSITARY.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is hereby designated as depositary of this Convention.
SIGNATURE, RATIFICATION, ACCEPTANCE, AND APPROVAL.
1. On 3 April 2006 and up to one month after its entry into force, this Convention shall be open at the Headquarters of the United Nations to the signature of the governments invited to the United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Convention. to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994.
2. Any government referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may:
(a) At the time of signing this Convention, declare that by such a signature it agrees to be bound by this Convention (definitive signature); or
(b) After signing this Convention, ratifying it, accepting it or approving it by depositing an instrument to the effect held by the depositary.
3. At the time of signature and ratification, acceptance or approval, or accession, or provisional application, the European Community or any intergovernmental organisation referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 5or, deposit a statement made by the competent authority of that organisation specifying the nature and extent of its competence in matters governed by this Convention, and shall inform the depositary of any change (a) substantial competition. If that organisation declares that it has exclusive competence over all matters governed by this Convention, the Member States of that organisation shall refrain from taking the measures provided for in paragraph 2 of Article
ADHESION.
1. This Convention shall be open to the accession of any government under conditions to be determined by the Council, including a period for the deposit of the instruments of accession. These conditions shall be transmitted by the Council to the depositary. However, the Council may grant extensions to governments which are unable to accede within the time limit laid down in the conditions of accession.
2. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of the corresponding instrument held by the depositary.
PROVISIONAL APPLICATION NOTIFICATION.
Any signatory government intending to ratify, accept or approve this Convention, or any government in respect of which the Council has established conditions of accession but which has not yet been able to deposit its instrument, may in any time to notify the depositary that it will apply this Convention provisionally, in accordance with its laws and regulations, when it enters into force in accordance with the provisions of Article 39 or, if already in effect, on the date that you specify.
ENTRY INTO EFFECT.
1. This Convention shall enter into force definitively on 1 February 2008 or at any other later date provided that 12 governments of the producer members representing at least 60% of the total votes indicated in Annex A to the Convention This Convention and 10 governments of the consumer members listed in Annex B representing at least 60% of the total volume of imports of tropical timber in the reference year 2005 have signed this Convention. definitively or have ratified, accepted or approved in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 36 or 37.
2. If this Convention has not entered into force definitively on 1 February 2008, it shall enter into force provisionally on that date or on any other date within the following six months provided that 10 governments of producer members meet at least 50% of the total of the votes indicated in Annex A to this Convention and 7 governments of the consumer members listed in Annex B representing 50% of the total volume of imports of tropical timber into the Year of reference 2005 have signed this Convention definitively or have ratified it, accepted or approved in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 36 or have notified the depositary, in accordance with Article 38, that they shall apply this Convention provisionally.
3. If the requirements for entry into force laid down in paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 of this Article have not been met on 1 September 2008, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall invite the governments that have signed the present Convention definitively or have ratified, accepted or approved in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 36, or have notified the depositary that they will apply this Convention provisionally, to meet as soon as possible. possible to decide whether this Convention shall enter into force provisionally or definitively between they, in whole or in part. Governments which decide that this Convention shall enter into force on a provisional basis may meet regularly to examine the situation and decide whether this Convention should enter into force between them.
4. If a government has not notified the depositary, in accordance with Article 38, of its decision to apply this Convention provisionally and deposit its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession after the entry into force of this Convention shall enter into force for that government on the date of such deposit.
5. The Executive Director of the Organization shall convene the first meeting of the Council as soon as possible after the entry into force of this Convention.
AMENDMENTS.
1. The Council may, by special vote in accordance with Article 12, recommend to the members amendments to this Convention.
2. The Council shall fix the time limit within which the members shall notify the depositary of their acceptance of the amendments.
3. Any amendment shall enter into force 90 days after the depositary has received notifications of acceptance of a number of members constituting at least two-thirds of the producer members and bringing together at least 75% of the votes of the producer members, as well as a number of members who constitute at least two-thirds of the consumer members and who hold at least 75% of the votes of the consumer members.
4. Once the depositary has informed the Council that the conditions required for the entry into force of the amendment are met, and without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article concerning the date fixed by the Council, any member may notify the depositary accepting the amendment, provided that it makes such notification before the entry into force of the amendment.
5. Any member who has not notified his acceptance of the amendment on the date on which it enters into force shall cease to be a Party to this Convention from that date unless it demonstrates to the Council that it was unable to obtain its acceptance on time. in difficulties relating to the conclusion of their constitutional or institutional procedures and the Council's decision to extend the deadline for the acceptance of the amendment in respect of that member. That member shall not be bound by the amendment until it has notified it that it accepts it.
6. If, on the date fixed by the Council in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article, the conditions required for the amendment to enter into force have not been met, the amendment shall be deemed to be withdrawn.
