Displaying 1 - 165 of 165

Paragraphs in "International Tropical Timber Agreement" coded as HOBF

Label Provision
Art.3 Article 3
Art.3.1 1. The International Tropical Timber Organization is hereby established to administer the provisions and supervise the operation of this Agreement.
Art.3.2 2. The Organization shall function through the International Tropical Timber Council established under article 6, the committees and other subsidiary bodies referred to in article 24, and the Executive Director and staff.
Art.3.3 3. The Council shall, at its first session, decide on the location of the headquarters of the Organization.
Art.3.4 4. The headquarters of the Organization shall at all times be located in the territory of a member.
Art.7 Article 7
Art.7.1 1. The Council shall exercise all such powers and perform or arrange for the performance of all such functions as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Agreement.
Art.7.2 2. The Council shall, by special vote, adopt such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Agreement, including its own rules of procedure and the financial and staff regulations of the Organization. Such financial regulations shall, inter alia, govern the receipt and expenditure of funds under the Administrative and Special Accounts. The Council may, in its rules of procedure, provide for a procedure whereby it may, without meeting, decide specific questions.
Art.7.3 3. The Council shall keep such records as are required for the performance of its functions under this Agreement.
Art.8 Article 8
Art.8.1 1. The Council shall elect for each calendar year a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, whose salaries shall not be paid by the Organization.
Art.8.2 2. The Chairman and the Vice-Chairman shall be elected, one from among the representatives of producing members and the other from among the representatives of consuming members. These offices shall alternate each year between the two categories of members, provided, however, that this shall not prohibit the re-election of either or both, under exceptional circumstances, by special vote of the Council.
Art.8.3 3. In the temporary absence of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman shall act in his place. In the temporary absence of both the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, or in the absence of one or both of them for the rest of the term for which they were elected, the Council may elect new officers from among the representatives of the producing members and/or from among the representatives of the consuming members, as the case may be, on a temporary basis or for the rest of the term for which the predecessor or predecessors were elected.
Art.10 Article 10
Art.10.1 1. The producing members shall together hold 1,000 votes and the consuming members shall together hold 1,000 votes.
Art.10.2 2. The votes of the producing members shall be distributed as follows:
Art.10.2.a (a) Four hundred votes shall be distributed equally among the three producing regions of Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The votes thus allocated to each of these regions shall then be distributed equally among the producing members of that region;
Art.10.2.b (b) Three hundred votes shall be distributed among the producing members in accordance with their respective shares of the total tropical forest resources of all producing members; and
Art.10.2.c (c) Three hundred votes shall be distributed among the producing members in proportion to the average of the values of their respective net exports of tropical timber during the most recent three-year period for which definitive figures are available.
Art.10.3 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article, the total votes allocated to the producing members from the African region, calculated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, shall be distributed equally among all producing members from the African region. If there are any remaining votes, each of these votes shall be allocated to a producing member from the African region: the first to the producing member which is allocated the highest number of votes calculated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, the second to the producing member which is allocated the second highest number of votes, and so on until all the remaining votes have been distributed.
Art.10.4 4. For purposes of the calculation of the distribution of votes under paragraph 2(b) of this article, "tropical forest resources" means productive closed broadleaved forests as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Art.10.5 5. The votes of the consuming members shall be distributed as follows: each consuming member shall have 10 initial votes; the remaining votes shall be distributed among the consuming members in proportion to the average volume of their respective net imports of tropical timber during the three-year period commencing four calendar years prior to the distribution of votes.
Art.10.6 6. The Council shall distribute the votes for each financial year at the beginning of its first session of that year in accordance with the provisions of this article. Such distribution shall remain in effect for the rest of that year, except as provided for in paragraph 7 of this article.
Art.10.7 7. Whenever the membership of the Organization changes or when any member has its voting rights suspended or restored under any provision of this Agreement, the Council shall redistribute the votes within the affected category or categories of members in accordance with the provisions of this article. The Council shall, in that event, decide when such redistribution shall become effective.
Art.10.8 8. There shall be no fractional votes.
Art.14 Article 14
Art.14.1 1. The Council shall make whatever arrangements are appropriate for consultation or co-operation with the United Nations and its organs, such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/GATT (ITC), and with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and such other specialized agencies of the United Nations and intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental organizations as may be appropriate.
Art.14.2 2. The Organization shall, to the maximum extent possible, utilize the facilities, services and expertise of existing intergovernmental, governmental or non-governmental organizations, in order to avoid duplication of efforts in achieving the objectives of this Agreement and to enhance the complementarity and the efficiency of their activities.
Art.16 Article 16
Art.16.1 1. The Council shall, by special vote, appoint the Executive Director.
Art.16.2 2. The terms and conditions of appointment of the Executive Director shall be determined by the Council.
Art.16.3 3. The Executive Director shall be the chief administrative officer of the Organization and shall be responsible to the Council for the administration and operation of this Agreement in accordance with decisions of the Council.
Art.16.4 4. The Executive Director shall appoint the staff in accordance with regulations to be established by the Council. At its first session, the Council shall, by special vote, decide the number of executive and professional staff the Executive Director may appoint. Any changes in the number of executive and professional staff shall be decided by the Council by special vote. The staff shall be responsible to the Executive Director.
Art.16.5 5. Neither the Executive Director nor any member of the staff shall have any financial interest in the tropical timber industry or trade, or associated commercial activities.
Art.16.6 6. In the performance of their duties, the Executive Director and staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any member or from any authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their positions as international officials ultimately responsible to the Council. Each member shall respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Executive Director and staff and shall not seek to influence them in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Sect.5 CHAPTER V - PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES
Art.17 Article 17
Art.17.1 1. The Organization shall have legal personality. It shall in particular have the capacity to contract, to acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property, and to institute legal proceedings.
Art.17.2 2. The Organization shall, as soon as possible after the entry into force of this Agreement, seek to conclude with the Government of the country in which the headquarters of the Organization is to be located (hereinafter referred to as the "host Government") an agreement (hereinafter referred to as the "Headquarters Agreement") relating to such status, privileges and immunities of the Organization, of its Executive Director, its staff and experts, and of representatives of members, as are necessary for the purpose of discharging their functions.
Art.17.3 3. Pending the conclusion of the Headquarters Agreement referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, the Organization shall request the host Government to grant, within the limits of its national legislation, exemption from taxation on remuneration paid by the Organization to its employees, and on the assets, income and other property of the Organization.
Art.17.4 4. The Organization may also conclude, with one or more countries, agreements to be approved by the Council relating to such capacity, privileges and immunities as may be necessary for the proper functioning of this Agreement.
Art.17.5 5. If the headquarters of the Organization is moved to another country, the member in question shall, as soon as possible, conclude with the Organization a headquarters agreement to be approved by the Council.
Art.17.6 6. The Headquarters Agreement shall be independent of this Agreement. It shall, however terminate:
Art.17.6.a (a) By agreement between the host Government and the Organization;
Art.17.6.b (b) In the event of the headquarters of the Organization being moved from the country of the host Government; or
Art.17.6.c (c) In the event of the Organization ceasing to exist.
Sect.6 CHAPTER VI - FINANCE
Art.18 Article 18
Art.18.1 1. There shall be established two accounts:
Art.18.1.a (a) The Administrative Account; and
Art.18.1.b (b) The Special Account.
Art.18.2 2. The Executive Director shall be responsible for the administration of these accounts and the Council shall make provision in its rules of procedure therefor.
Art.19 Article 19
Art.19.1 1. The expenses necessary for the administration of this Agreement shall be brought into the Administrative Account and shall be met by annual contributions paid by members in accordance with their respective constitutional or institutional procedures and assessed in accordance with paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this article.
Art.19.2 2. The expenses of delegations to the Council, the committees and any other subsidiary bodies of the Council referred to in article 24 shall be met by the members concerned. In cases where a member requests special services from the Organization, the Council shall require that member to pay the costs of such services.
Art.19.3 3. Before the end of each financial year, the Council shall approve the administrative budget of the Organization for the following financial year and shall assess the contribution of each member to that budget.
Art.19.4 4. The contribution of each member to the administrative budget for each financial year shall be in the proportion which the number of its votes at the time the administrative budget for that financial year is approved bears to the total votes of all the members. In assessing contributions, the votes of each member shall be calculated without regard to the suspension of any member's voting rights or any redistribution of votes resulting therefrom.
Art.19.5 5. The initial contribution of any member joining the Organization after the entry into force of this Agreement shall be assessed by the Council on the basis of the number of votes to be held by that member and the period remaining in the current financial year, but the assessment made upon other members from the current financial year shall not thereby be altered.
Art.19.6 6. Contributions to the first administrative budget shall become due on a date to be decided by the Council at its first session. Contributions to subsequent administrative budgets shall become due on the first day of each financial year. Contributions of members in respect of the financial year in which they join the Organization shall be due on the date on which they become members.
Art.19.7 7. If a member has not paid its full contribution to the administrative budget within four months after such contribution becomes due in accordance with paragraph 6 of this article, the Executive Director shall request that member to make payment as quickly as possible. If that member has still not paid its contribution within two months after such request, that member shall be requested to state the reasons for its inability to make payment. If at the expiry of seven months from the due date of contribution, that member has still not paid its contribution, its voting rights shall be suspended and an interest charge shall be levied on its late contribution at the central bank rate of the host country until such time as it has paid in full its contribution, unless the Council, by special vote, decides otherwise.
Art.19.8 8. A member whose rights have been suspended under paragraph 7 of this article shall remain liable to pay its contribution.
Art.20 Article 20
Art.20.1 1. There shall be established two sub-accounts under the Special Account:
Art.20.1.a (a) The Pre-Project Sub-Account; and
Art.20.1.b (b) The Project Sub-Account.
Art.20.2 2. The possible sources of finance for the Special Account shall be:
Art.20.2.a (a) The Second Account of the Common Fund for Commodities, when it becomes operational;
Art.20.2.b (b) Regional and international financial institutions; and
Art.20.2.c (c) Voluntary contributions.
Art.20.3 3. The resources of the Special Account shall be used only for approved projects or for pre-project activities.
Art.20.4 4. All expenditures under the Pre-Project Sub-Account shall be reimbursed from the Project Sub-Account if projects are subsequently approved and funded. If within six months of the entry into force of this Agreement the Council does not receive any funds for the Pre-Project Sub-Account, it shall review the situation and take appropriate action.
Art.20.5 5. All receipts pertaining to specific identifiable projects shall be brought into the Special Account. All expenditures incurred on such projects, including remuneration and travel expenses of consultants and experts, shall be charged to the Special Account.
Art.20.6 6. The Council shall, by special vote, establish terms and conditions on which it would, when and where appropriate, sponsor projects for loan financing, where a member or members have voluntarily assumed full obligations and responsibilities for such loans. The Organization shall have no obligations for such loans.
Art.20.7 7. The Council may nominate and sponsor any entity with the consent of that entity, including a member or members, to receive loans for the financing of approved projects and to undertake all the obligations involved, except that the Organization shall reserve to itself the right to monitor the use of resources and to follow up on the implementation of projects so financed. However, the Organization shall not be responsible for guarantees voluntarily provided by individual members or other entities.
Art.20.8 8. No member shall be responsible by reason of its membership in the Organization for any liability arising from borrowing or lending by any other member or entity in connection with projects.
Art.20.9 9. In the event that voluntary unearmarked funds are offered to the Organization, the Council may accept such funds. Such funds may be utilized for pre-project activities as well as for approved projects.
Art.20.10 10. The Executive Director shall endeavour to seek, on such terms and conditions as the Council may decide, adequate and assured finance for projects approved by the Council.
Art.20.11 11. Contributions for specified approved projects shall be used only for the projects for which they were originally intended, unless otherwise decided by the Council in agreement with the contributor. After the completion of a project, the Organization shall return to each contributor for specific projects the balance of any funds remaining pro rata to each contributor's share in the total of the contributions originally made available for financing that project, unless otherwise agreed to by the contributor.
Art.21 Article 21
Art.21.1 1. Contributions to the Administrative Account shall be payable in freely usable currencies and shall be exempt from foreign-exchange restrictions.
Art.21.2 2. Financial contributions to the Special Account shall be payable in freely usable currencies and shall be exempt from foreign-exchange restrictions.
Art.21.3 3. The Council may also decide to accept other forms of contributions to the Special Account, including scientific and technical equipment or personnel, to meet the requirements of approved projects.
Art.22 Article 22
Art.22.1 1. The Council shall appoint independent auditors for the purpose of auditing the accounts of the Organization.
Art.22.2 2. Independently audited statements of the Administrative Account and of the Special Account shall be made available to members as soon as possible after the close of each financial year, but not later than six months after that date, and be considered for approval by the Council at its next session, as appropriate. A summary of the audited accounts and balance sheet shall thereafter be published.
Sect.7.2 CHAPTER VII - OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Art.23 Article 23
Art.23.1 1. All project proposals shall be submitted to the Organization by members and shall be examined by the relevant committee.
Art.23.2 2. In order to achieve the objectives set out in article 1, the Council shall examine all project proposals in the fields of research and development, market intelligence, further and increased processing in developing producing member countries, and reforestation and forest management, together with the recommendation submitted by the relevant committee; such project proposals based on tropical timber as defined in article 2, paragraph 1, may encompass tropical timber products other than those listed in article 2, paragraph 1. This provision shall also apply, where relevant, to the functions of the committees as set forth in article 25.
Art.23.3 3. On the basis of the criteria set out in paragraph 6 or paragraph 7 of this article, the Council shall, by special vote, approve projects for financing or sponsorship in accordance with article 20.
Art.23.4 4. The Council shall, on a continuing basis, arrange for the implementation of, and with a view to ensuring their effectiveness follow up, approved projects.
Art.23.5 5. Research and development projects should relate to at least one of the following five areas:
Art.23.5.a (a) wood utilization, including the utilization of lesser-known and lesser-used species;
Art.23.5.b (b) natural forest development;
Art.23.5.c (c) reforestation development;
Art.23.5.d (d) harvesting, logging infrastructure, training of technical personnel;
Art.23.5.e (e) institutional framework, national planning.
Art.23.6 6. Projects on research and development approved by the Council shall be consistent with each of the following criteria:
Art.23.6.a (a) They should be related to the production and utilization of industrial tropical timber;
Art.23.6.b (b) They should yield benefits to the tropical timber economy as a whole and be relevant to producing as well as consuming members;
Art.23.6.c (c) They should be related to the maintenance and expansion of the international tropical timber trade;
Art.23.6.d (d) They should offer reasonable prospects for positive economic returns in relation to costs; and
Art.23.6.e (e) They shall make maximum use of existing research institutions and, to the greatest extent possible, avoid duplication of efforts.
Art.23.7 7. Projects in the fields of market intelligence, further and increased processing, and reforestation and forest management, should be consistent with criterion (b) and, as far as possible, consistent with criteria (a), (c), (d) and (e) as contained in paragraph 6 of this article.
Art.23.8 8. The Council shall decide on the relative priorities of projects, taking into account the interests and characteristics of each of the producing regions. Initially, the Council shall give priority to research and development project profiles as endorsed by the Sixth Preparatory Meeting on Tropical Timber under the Integrated Programme for Commodities and to such other projects as the Council may approve.
Art.23.9 9. The Council may, by special vote, terminate its sponsorship of any project.
Art.24 Article 24
Art.24.1 1. The following committees are hereby established as permanent committees of the Organization:
Art.24.1.a (a) Committee on Economic Information and Market Intelligence;
Art.24.1.b (b) Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management; and
Art.24.1.c (c) Committee on Forest Industry.
Art.24.2 2. The Council may, by special vote, establish such other committees and subsidiary bodies as it deems appropriate and necessary.
Art.24.3 3. The committees and subsidiary bodies referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall be responsible to, and work under the general direction of, the Council. Meetings of the committees and subsidiary bodies shall be convened by the Council.
Art.24.4 4. Participation in each of the committees shall be open to all members. The rules of procedure of the Committees shall be decided by the Council.
Art.26 Article 26
Art.26.1x When the Common Fund becomes operational, the Organization shall take full advantage of the facilities of the Second Account of the Common Fund according to the principles set out in the Agreement establishing the Common Fund for Commodities.
Sect.9 CHAPTER IX - STATISTICS, STUDIES AND INFORMATION
Art.27 Article 27
Art.27.1 1. The Council shall establish close relationships with appropriate intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental organizations, in order to help ensure the availability of recent and reliable data and information on all factors concerning tropical timber. The Organization, in co-operation with such organizations, shall compile, collate and, as necessary, publish such statistical information on production, supply, trade, stocks, consumption and market prices of tropical timber, and on related areas, as is necessary for the operation of this Agreement.
Art.27.2 2. Members shall, to the fullest extent possible not inconsistent with their national legislation, furnish, within a reasonable time, statistics and information on tropical timber requested by the Council.
Art.27.3 3. The Council shall arrange to have any necessary studies undertaken of the trends and of short- and long-term problems of the world tropical timber market.
Art.27.4 4. The Council shall ensure that information furnished by members shall not be used in such a manner as to prejudice the confidentiality of the operations of persons or companies producing, processing or marketing tropical timber.
Art.28 Article 28
Art.28.1 1. The Council shall, within six months after the close of each calendar year, publish an annual report on its activities and such other information as it considers appropriate.
Art.28.2 2. The Council shall annually review and assess the world tropical timber situation and exchange views on the outlook for, and other issues closely related to, the world tropical timber economy, including ecological and environmental aspects.
Art.28.3 3. The review shall be carried out in the light of:
Art.28.3.a (a) Information supplied by members in relation to national production, trade, supply, stocks, consumption and prices of tropical timber;
Art.28.3.b (b) Statistical data and specific indicators provided by members on the areas listed in annex C; and
Art.28.3.c (c) Such other relevant information as may be available to the Council either directly or through the appropriate organizations in the United Nations system and appropriate intergovernmental, governmental or non-governmental organizations.
Art.28.4 4. The results of the review shall be included in the reports of the Council's deliberations.
Sect.10.4 CHAPTER X - MISCELLANEOUS
Art.31 Article 31
Art.31.1 1. Where it is necessary on account of exceptional circumstances or emergency or force majeure not expressly provided for in this Agreement, the Council may, by special vote, relieve a member of an obligation under this Agreement if it is satisfied by an explanation from that member regarding the reasons why the obligation cannot be met.
Art.31.2 2. The Council, in granting relief to a member under paragraph 1 of this article, shall state explicitly the terms and conditions on which, and the period for which, the member is relieved of such obligation, and the reasons for which the relief is granted.
Art.32 Article 32
Art.32.1 1. Developing importing members whose interests are adversely affected by measures taken under this Agreement may apply to the Council for appropriate differential and remedial measures. The Council shall consider taking appropriate measures in accordance with section III, paragraphs 3 and 4, of resolution 93(IV) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
Art.32.2 2. Members in the category of least developed countries as defined by the United Nations may apply to the Council for special measures in accordance with section III, paragraph 4, of resolution 93(IV) and with paragraph 82 of the Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries.
Sect.11.2 CHAPTER XI - FINAL PROVISIONS
Art.35 Article 35
Art.35.1 1. This Agreement shall be open for accession by the Governments of all States upon conditions established by the Council, which shall include a time-limit for the deposit of instruments of accession. The Council may, however, grant extensions of time to Governments which are unable to accede by the time-limit set in the conditions of accession.
Art.35.2 2. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the depositary.
Art.38 Article 38
Art.38.1 1. The Council may, by special vote, recommend an amendment of this Agreement to the members.
Art.38.2 2. The Council shall fix a date by which members shall notify the depositary of their acceptance of the amendment.
Art.38.3 3. An amendment shall enter into force 90 days after the depositary has received notifications of acceptance from members constituting at least two thirds of the producing members and accounting for at least 85 per cent of the votes of the producing members, and from members constituting at least two thirds of the consuming members and accounting for at least 85 per cent of the votes of the consuming members.
Art.38.4 4. After the depositary informs the Council that the requirements for entry into force of the amendment have been met, and notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article relating to the date fixed by the Council, a member may still notify the depositary of its acceptance of the amendment, provided that such notification is made before the entry into force of the amendment.
Art.38.5 5. Any member which has not notified its acceptance of an amendment by the date on which such amendment enters into force shall cease to be a party to this Agreement as from that date, unless such member has satisfied the Council that its acceptance could not be obtained in time owing to difficulties in completing its constitutional or institutional procedures, and the Council decides to extend for that member the period for acceptance of the amendment. Such member shall not be bound by the amendment before it has notified its acceptance thereof.
Art.38.6 6. If the requirements for the entry into force of the amendment have not been met by the date fixed by the Council in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, the amendment shall be considered withdrawn.
Art.40 Article 40
Art.40.1x If the Council decides that any member is in breach of its obligations under this Agreement and decides further that such breach significantly impairs the operation of this Agreement, it may, by special vote, exclude that member from this Agreement. The Council shall immediately so notify the depositary. Six months after the date of the Council's decision, that member shall cease to be a party to this Agreement.
Art.41 Article 41
Art.41.1 1. The Council shall determine any settlement of accounts with a member which ceases to be a party to this Agreement owing to:
Art.41.1.a (a) Non-acceptance of an amendment to this Agreement under article 38;
Art.41.1.b (b) Withdrawal from this Agreement under article 39; or
Art.41.1.c (c) Exclusion from this Agreement under article 40.
Art.41.2 2. The Council shall retain any contribution paid to the Administrative Account by a member which ceases to be a party to this Agreement.
Art.41.3 3. A member which has ceased to be a party to this Agreement shall not be entitled to any share of the proceeds of liquidation or the other assets of the Organization. Nor shall such member be liable for payment of any part of the deficit, if any, of the Organization upon termination of this Agreement.
Art.42 Article 42
Art.42.1 1. This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of five years after its entry into force unless the Council, by special vote, decides to extend, renegotiate or terminate it in accordance with the provisions of this article.
Art.42.2 2. The Council may, by special vote, decide to extend this Agreement for not more than two periods of two years each.
Art.42.3 3. If, before the expiry of the five-year period referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, or before the expiry of an extension period referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, as the case may be, a new agreement to replace this Agreement has been negotiated but has not yet entered into force either definitively or provisionally, the Council may, by special vote, extend this Agreement until the provisional or definitive entry into force of the new agreement.
Art.42.4 4. If a new agreement is negotiated and enters into force during any period of extension of this Agreement under paragraph 2 or paragraph 3 of this article, this Agreement, as extended, shall terminate upon the entry into force of the new agreement.
Art.42.5 5. The Council may at any time, by special vote, decide to terminate this Agreement with effect from such date as it may determine.
Art.42.6 6. Notwithstanding the termination of this Agreement, the Council shall continue in being for a period not exceeding 18 months to carry out the liquidation of the Organization, including the settlement of accounts, and, subject to relevant decisions to be taken by special vote, shall have during that period such powers and functions as may be necessary for these purposes.
Art.42.7 7. The Council shall notify the depositary of any decision taken under this article.