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Trade in tropical forest products contributes to the protection of tropical forests In Switzerland, the use of tropical timber has been a political issue for years. There have repeatedly been calls for boycotts or bans, e.g. regarding the import of tropical timber. The Federal Council has always spoken out against trade bans, instead favouring private voluntary agreements. In order to implement this policy, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is engaged in promoting trade in sustainably produced products. Producer countries receive technical and institutional support to achieve the standards required in consumer countries. The most important partner in the implementation of this policy is the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). Within the Federal Administration, SECO is responsible for sustainable economic development cooperation. With regard to commodities, it supports selected partner countries in terms of the diversification of their economic base and the reduction of dependence on exports of raw materials. The focus is on the promotion of trade in sustainably produced commodities. This should be achieved, wherever possible, through voluntary measures and agreements. In spite of their enormous ecological, economic, social
and cultural value, tropical forests are rarely managed sustainably. By placing
an explicit economic value on them and by financially compensating for
their ecosystem services, tropical forests can be used sustainably and saved
from destruction. In order to do so, tropical countries need to sell their products
to environmentally-aware customers in the high price markets of industrialised
countries and must be able to correctly assess the environmental services of
forests. This means that tropical countries have to be capable of meeting the
ecological and social standards required to succeed in the international market. Switzerland offers a lucrative niche and test market for innovative products and trade modalities, which promote a more ecological and socially-appropriate style of forest management Read more about: ERROR: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2) | |||