How to become a member

Photo: R. Carrillo/ITTO

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) was established under the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1983 (ITTA, 1983), for the purpose of administering the provisions and supervising the operation of the ITTA. The ITTA, 1983, was succeeded by the ITTA, 1994, which in turn was succeeded by the ITTA, 2006. The ITTA, 2006, entered into force definitively on 7 December 2011 in accordance with Article 39 (1) of the Agreement. A certified true copy of the ITTA, 2006, can be found at https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/tdtimber3d12_en.pdf

Membership procedure

A government, through its Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, USA, may contact the Secretary-General of the United Nations in his capacity as depositary of the ITTA, 2006 (through the Treaty Section, Office of Legal Affairs, New York, USA, e-mail: treatysection@un.org), as follows:

(i) Countries that signed the ITTA, 2006, within the time limit set in paragraph 1 of Article 36 (7 January 2012) may deposit an Instrument of Ratification, Acceptance or Approval with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. (Only applicable for Canada, Nigeria and Paraguay),

(ii)  Countries that did not sign the ITTA, 2006, within the time limit set in paragraph 1 of Article 36 (7 January 2012) may accede to the ITTA, 2006, by depositing an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with Article 37 of the ITTA, 2006. Decision 7(XLVIII) of the International Tropical Timber Council “Establishment of Conditions for Accession to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006” provides further clarification.

On completion of formalities (i) or (ii) above, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (through the Treaty Section, Office of Legal Affairs) will issue a Depositary Notification specifying the date of deposit of the instrument which is the same date the Agreement enters into force for the depositing State or intergovernmental organization.

Additional information

The current status of the ITTA, 2006, can be found at https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XIX-46&chapter=19&clang=_en or http://treaties.un.org using the following steps:

  • select “Depositary”;
  • select “Status of treaties”;
  • select Section XIX. “Commodities”;
  • select Item 46 – “International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006”

Related links

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