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News related to market developments
The FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) initiative involves negotiations and programs in 15 tropical counties which together supply over 80% of the international tropical timber trade, by value. While the time taken by countries to reach the licensing stage has been a focus for criticism, a long lead time is inevitable for an initiative which aims to create …
Ghana and the EC have started a cargo shipment test to evaluate export and import procedures in preparation for the transport of Ghanaian FLEGT licensed timber and wood products to various EU destinations. The main aim is to identify and recommend corrective actions for any shortcomings that might hinder efficient processing of export/import documents and …
The majority of respondents to a recent IMM survey of the Ghanaian timber industry fully or partially agree that the FLEGT VPA process is helping to improve forest management and governance in the country. They also agree thay it is helping to control illegal chainsaw milling and having a positive effect on implementation of laws concerning …
IMM survey suggests FLEGT is improving governance in Ghana Read More »
New legislation on conversion of concessions has passed Parliament Ghana has progressed farthest on the path to FLEGT-licensing among the five African countries implementing a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU. In early November, long-awaited new legislation dealing with the conversion of several timber harvesting concessions to Timber Utilisation Contracts (TUCs), among other things, …
“FLEGT-licensed timber going from distant promise to physical reality restored faith”, one importer told IMM during the 2017 European survey. And that it is Indonesia doing the licensing also changed mind-sets. If such a large, complex country could do it, the view was that others could too. The fact that the start of FLEGT-licensing in …
Trade calls for more information on Indonesian licensing system Read More »
A year on since Indonesia began FLEGT licensing timber exports to the EU, and one EU FLEGT national Competent Authority (CA) commented that introduction of the licensing system had been ‘remarkably smooth and uneventful’. This seems to be the consensus among most Indonesian exporters and EU importers and their respective authorities. At the same time, …
A quick guide to how the VPA was implemented and works When Indonesia started issuing FLEGT licences last November, verifying the legality of its timber exports to the EU prior to despatch, it was billed as a milestone in global efforts to combat illegal logging and illegal wood products trade. Since then the country and its FLEGT …
Coordinated effort – Indonesia and FLEGT licensing Read More »