September 10 2003
For immediate use
NZ Forestry Represented At Meeting With Ministers
The New Zealand Forest Industries Council today joined other international forestry organisations in urging world trade
ministers to deliver a fair deal for forestry.
Chief Executive Stephen Jacobi is in Cancun, Mexico to attend the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation.
Mr Jacobi is an adviser to the New Zealand delegation and represents New Zealand forestry in an international industry
alliance established to progress forestry trade issues.
That industry group today met trade ministers and officials, including New Zealand Trade Minister Jim Sutton, to discuss
the challenges forestry faced in the form of tariffs and non-tariff barriers and how to liberalise forest products
trade.
New Zealand forest industries pay $40 million in tariffs each year and confront non-tariff barriers amounting to at
least $175 million.
Ministers who took part in today’s discussions were united in their belief that the WTO negotiations provided a means of
expanding output, employment and economic growth and alleviating poverty.
“A successful and robust outcome from the Doha round is critical to ensuring the future growth of the world’s forest and
paper industries. With global revenue of $US750 billion, the forest products industry is one of the world’s largest
industrial sectors and makes a major contribution to living standards in both developing and developed countries,”
Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said at the meeting.
Mr Jacobi said that ministers and senior officials from nine countries discussed the need for the WTO’s non-agricultural
market access negotiations to achieve significant trade liberalisation for forestry.
“To achieve this level of participation from countries in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Pacific
demonstrates how seriously those involved in the negotiations are taking forestry’s particular concerns.
“Forest companies and industry associations are doing their bit to build new markets and innovate to develop new
products but our respective governments have a vital role through official bodies like the WTO and
government-to-government contact.”
Mr Jacobi said a collaborative effort between industry and government had helped forestry become New Zealand’s third
largest export sector. Success stories included the export of laminated veneer lumber to China, moldings to the United
States and kitset homes to Japan.
Mr Jacobi and his fellow industry representatives presented a joint industry position to the WTO in Geneva in July
[attached], calling for trade barriers to be reduced and more effective trade rules for wood and paper products to be
put in place through the WTO Doha Development Agenda.
The industry group’s common views concern elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers and strengthening rules for
anti dumping and subsidies.
About Forestry
NZFIC represents and promotes the interests of all sectors involved in the New Zealand forest industry. Membership
comprises forestry companies and industry associations who collectively own and manage a sustainable, planted production
forest resource of 1.8 million hectares
New Zealand forestry directly employs 23,000 people, accounts for 4 percent of GDP, has annual sales of more than $5
billion and is the country’s third largest export earner at $3.7 billion annually. Through its Wood Processing Strategy
and Vision 2025, the industry aims to become New Zealand’s largest export sector, directly employ 60,000 people,
contribute 14 percent of GDP and record an annual turnover of $20 billion.
Media Release
Cancun, 9 September 2003
MINISTERS SEEK AMBITIOUS OUTCOME FOR
FOREST PRODUCTS
Trade Ministers from leading forestry exporting nations have underlined the need for an ambitious outcome for forest
products from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) “Doha” negotiations.
Ministers and senior officials from nine countries met on 9 September on the margins of the WTO Ministerial Meeting in
Cancun, Mexico. Also attending this informal meeting were international forest industry representatives who were in
Cancun to support further liberalisation in the forest products sector.
The Ministers discussed the potential of the Doha Round to create new opportunities for producers, exporters, consumers
and rural communities by expanding access to global markets and improving multilateral trade rules. This would
contribute to poverty reduction and long-term social and economic progress worldwide.
“A successful and robust outcome from the Doha Round is critical to ensuring the future growth of the world’s wood and
paper industries,” Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said.
“With global revenue of US$750 billion, the forest products industry is one of the world’s largest industrial sectors
and makes a major contribution to living standards in both developing and developed countries.”
“Ensuring that the Doha negotiations deliver significant liberalisation for forestry products trade will be a win/win
outcome for both developed and developing countries,” said New Zealand Trade Minister Jim Sutton.
Five out of the top 10 forest products exporters by value are developing countries, according to Food and Agriculture
Organisation statistics.
The Ministers discussed the need for the non-agricultural (industrial products) market access negotiations in the WTO to
achieve significant liberalisation of forest products trade, and undertook to work towards such an outcome in the WTO
negotiations.
They noted the market opportunities this would provide for WTO Members, including developing countries, consistent with
the objectives of the Doha Development Agenda.
They also noted that the world’s forest industries have made important gains in forest management over the last decade,
and that trade liberalisation can and must go hand-in-hand with sustainable development practices.
Countries attending the meeting
Canada, Chile, Gabon, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, United States, Uruguay
Industry associations attending the meeting:
New Zealand Forest Industries Council (NZFIC)
Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC)
American Forest & Paper Association (AF)
ACHIEVING FREE AND FAIR TRADE IN FOREST AND PAPER PRODUCTS
A STATEMENT BY LEADING GLOBAL FOREST AND PAPER INDUSTRIES
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
JULY 2003
This statement expresses strong industry support for accelerated trade liberalisation in wood and paper products through
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Development Agenda (“the Doha negotiations”).
This statement reflects the views of forest and paper products industries in Canada, New Zealand and the United States
as well as the forest industry in Australia and the paper industry in South Africa1. Between them these industries
represent 33 percent of world trade in wood products, 49 percent of world trade in wood pulp and 25 percent of world
trade in paper.
Representatives of these industries met in Oaxaca, Mexico, in May 2003 to discuss the progress in the Doha negotiations
and to consider options for furthering the interests of the global forest and paper industries in these critical
negotiations.
These industry representatives are united in their belief that accelerated trade liberalisation of forest and paper
products, particularly through the WTO, provides a means of expanding output, employment and economic growth and
alleviating poverty. The Doha negotiations offer an unparalleled opportunity to eliminate trade barriers, put in place
more effective trade rules and address the specific concerns of developing countries. A successful and robust outcome
from the Doha negotiations is critical to ensuring the future expansion of the world’s forest and paper industries.
This statement reflects the views of the following organizations:
Australia: National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI)
Canada: Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC)
New Zealand: New Zealand Forest Industries Council (NZFIC)
South Africa: Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA)
United States: American Forest & Paper Association (AF)
Reviewing progress in the Doha negotiations, industry representatives agreed that:
- WTO members should move with the greatest possible speed towards the goal of eliminating all tariffs on forest and
paper products, whether by an ambitious formula approach to tariff elimination, an expansion of current zero for zero
deals, or a combination of these approaches, taking account of established WTO provisions in respect of developing
countries;
- the goal of eliminating non tariff barriers should also be pursued with speed given their increasing prevalence and
effect in blocking trade expansion;
- greater clarification, refinement and more disciplined application of anti-dumping provisions is required; and
- they will seek more effective rules and disciplines to address the use of subsidies.
Industry representatives called on their respective national governments and all member countries of the WTO to ensure:
- that effective modalities for non-agricultural market access were identified as soon as possible, but before the WTO
Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003; and
- that Trade Ministers meeting in Cancun resolve to keep the Doha negotiation to its original timeframe for conclusion
by 1 January 2005.
Industry representatives further agreed:
- to convey the views in this statement to their respective national governments and to industry stakeholders and the
general public in their countries;
- to consult regularly amongst themselves with a view to co-ordinating their respective positions and strategy in
respect to the Doha negotiations; and
- to explore opportunities to present these views and any subsequent considerations to WTO officials and national
delegations in Geneva and as appropriate at the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003.
Signed by the following representatives of industry organisations:
Avrim Lazar Stephen Jacobi
President and Chief Executive Chief Executive
Forest Products Association of Canada New Zealand Forest Industries Council
John Hunt W. Henson Moore
Executive Director President and Chief Executive Officer
Paper Manufacturers Association of American Forest & Paper Association
South Africa
Kate Carnell
Executive Director
National Association of Forest Industries
(Australia)