JAPAN –  ITTO, Form International and the  International Tropical Timber Technical Association have signed a new agreement for the expansion and improvement of the Timber Trade Portal aimed at assisting the growth, transparency and diversity of legal and sustainable tropical timber trade.

The Timber Trade Portal (TTP) is an answer to the numerous questions timber traders have when it comes to legal timber trade, due diligence, country requirements and export. It serves as a central information point, with country profiles on both timber industry and legislation of producer countries, mainly located in tropical Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The new partnership agreement, “Timber Trade Portal: Towards well-informed legal trade”, which was signed by the three organizations on 8 March 2021, will enable the further development and improvement of the TTP by:

-Expanding the geographical and linguistic coverage of the current TTP website by adding six new country profiles, mainly in Asia, and translating the entire website to Chinese.

-Re-designing the website to modernize the design and improve its user-friendliness.

-Increasing the website’s exposure and audience through a new market strategy and its promotion at relevant events.

The work will be funded by ITTO and implemented by the International Tropical Timber Technical Association (ATIBT) (the owner of the website) and Form International (the project manager), in close collaboration with the ITTO Secretariat.