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The EU and Honduras begin implementing their agreement to combat illegal logging at their first meeting

On 12 September 2022, the first meeting of the Joint Implementation Committee (CCA by its Spanish acronym) was held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to start overseeing the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT).

During the meeting the EU and Honduras signed the first act of the Aide Memoire of the CCA. This marked the official start of the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement.

The first CCA meeting marked the official start of the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Honduras and the European Union
The first CCA meeting marked the official start of the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Honduras and the European Union. Source: Sebastiaan de Smedt, European Forest Institute

The CCA also agreed to prioritise actions that will yield concrete results in the short term. This includes the development and implementation of a robust traceability system for the transport of timber. With the help of technology it will be possible to address the falsification of transport documents. The CCA also agreed to accelerate the development and implementation of simplified procedures for the approval of forest management plans and the harvest of forest products.

The proceedings of the meeting are available publicly in the Aide Memoire (in Spanish).

The CCA oversees the VPA and is co-chaired by the National Institute for Forest Conservation and Development, Protected Areas and Wildlife and the European Union. The CCA includes the participation of various Government ministries and institutions, the private sector, including small forest owners, civil society organizations, indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, and donor partners that support the implementation of the agreement.

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About the VPA Africa – Latin America Facility

The VPA Africa – Latin America Facility supports the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan with a focus on Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs). The Facility contributes to combating illegal logging and strengthening forest governance while encouraging sustainable economic development in countries that produce or process timber and export to the EU. The Facility is hosted by the European Forest Institute (EFI) and was established in November 2019.

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