In 1990, ITTO members agreed to strive for an international trade of tropical timber from sustainably managed forests by the century's end. This commitment became known as the Year 2000 Objective, and a large part of the ITTO program of projects and activities was devoted to its achievement. An assessment made in 2000 showed that tropical countries had made significant progress in the formulation and adoption of policies compatible with the Objective, but less evidence was found of progress in implementing such policies.

Recognizing this lack of progress, ITTO members re-stated their commitment to moving as rapidly as possible towards achieving exports of tropical timber and timber products from sustainably managed sources, renaming this commitment as 'ITTO Objective 2000'. It remains a central goal of the Organization, supported by renewed efforts to raise the capacity of government, industry and communities to manage their forests and add value to their forest products, and to maintain and increase the transparency of the trade and access to international markets.

For example, one recommendation of the assessment made in 2000 was to send ITTO missions to tropical member countries to identify the obstacles to rapid progress and to formulate action plans to overcome them. By end 2005, 15 of these missions had been conducted.

For a detailed account of ITTO's action agenda, please refer to the current ITTO Action Plan, or click on Resources and Project portfolio to see more about ITTO's work in this area.