flegt license Archives - VPA ALA Facility

Laurent Tchagba, Willem van de Voorde and Jutta Urpilainen (left to right), at the signing of the FLEGT VPA between the European Union and Côte d'Ivoire.

The EU and Côte d’Ivoire sign a trade agreement on timber to enhance forest governance and combat illegal logging

20 March 2024

In Brussels, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, Ivorian Minister of Water and Forests, Laurent Tchagba, and Belgian Ambassador, Willem van de Voorde, signed a legally binding trade agreement aimed at promoting sustainable trade of legal timber to the EU. This agreement signifies Côte d’Ivoire‘s commitment to enhancing forest governance, modernising its forestry sector, and combating illegal logging while it assures EU-based timber buyers of the legality of timber products from Côte d’Ivoire.

The agreement’s signature concludes a decade-long negotiation process, shifting the focus towards implementation, including the establishment of a verification system to guarantee timber legality and traceability. Once this system is fully operational, Côte d’Ivoire will issue Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licences.

FLEGT licensing ensures legal and sustainable timber trade, benefiting both exporters and importers by guaranteeing compliance with legal standards and easing access to the EU market. By endorsing FLEGT-licensed timber, importers contribute to environmental conservation and socio-economic development in tropical countries, while fostering equitable societies and combating corruption. FLEGT licensing stands as a win-win proposition, ensuring legality, responsible forest management, and socio-economic progress in timber trade.

Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen emphasised the significance of international cooperation in combating deforestation and illegal logging. She highlighted the agreement’s role in fostering a future where sustainable forest management benefits local communities and aids in fighting climate change and preserving biodiversity. Minister Laurent Tchagba reaffirmed Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to accelerating reforms under the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA), particularly in strengthening the governance framework and developing a timber legality assurance system for verifying legality and issuing FLEGT licenses.

The FLEGT VPA negotiations involved various stakeholders such as the Ivorian civil society, the private sector and the forest administration, who will stay involved during the implementation phase. The VPA is expected to increase revenue for Côte d’Ivoire’s forest sector while contributing to the EU’s FLEGT Action Plan goals. Côte d’Ivoire joins other African, Latin American and Asian countries in signing a VPA with the EU to combat illegal timber trade and enhance forest governance.

Minister for Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana, Mr. Samuel A. Jinapor, and Irchad Razaaly, Ambassador of the European Union to Ghana. Signing of the aide-memoire of the 11th JMRM meeting, 26 September 2023.

Christophe Hertecant

Ghana and the EU advance toward FLEGT licensing in their joint effort to combat trade in illegal timber

5 October 2023

The Ghana-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) has reached a major milestone. During the meeting of the implementation body of the Agreement, the Parties took an important step toward issuing FLEGT licences, that will attest to the legality of Ghanaian timber products exported to the EU.

On 26 September 2023, a high-level Ghanaian delegation joined representatives of the European Union in Brussels to hold the 11^th meeting of the Joint Monitoring Review Mechanism (JMRM) of the Ghana-EU VPA on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). The FLEGT VPA is a bilateral trade agreement aiming at promoting trade in legal timber between both Parties.

This session of the JMRM was the first since May 2019, and the first to be convened outside Ghana. The JMRM includes Ghanaian public authorities in charge of forest administration, private sector and civil society, as well as the European Commission.

Negotiations and discussions were fruitful, leading to the agreement of a Joint Action Plan representing an important step toward readiness for FLEGT licensing. FLEGT licences attest to the legality of Ghana’s timber and will enable Ghana’s timber products to enter the EU market without having to go through due diligence steps. It means a significant facilitation for both exporters and importers, and improves the terms of trade in timber for the EU and Ghana alike.

In 2016, Indonesia became the first country in the world to issue FLEGT licences; now Ghana is advancing rapidly toward the same goal, which will establish it as the first country in Africa and second in the world to issue FLEGT licences.

During the sessions, the Parties also reviewed the status of development of Ghana’s timber legality assurance system (GhLAS). They also took note of the further improvements made by Ghana on the electronic Wood Tracking System to serve now as a decision-making system instead of a simple tracking device.

Furthermore, Ghana has undertaken important legislative reforms in its forestry sector that enhance forest governance and enable the country to meet the terms of the VPA and ensure transparency, generating benefits for communities and clarifying the allocation of all timber rights.

In addition to these advances, Ghana is also addressing illegal logging in its domestic market, as well as regional trade and is rolling out a new system for tracking timber on the domestic market that involves both suppliers and traders, and requires proof of legality through the chain of custody.

Through the VPA, Ghana is controlling illegal timber trade, modernising timber operations and ensuring forestry brings employment in the formal economy and social benefits such as payments to communities through Social Responsibility Agreements. For the EU, the VPA contributes to achieving the goals of the EU’s FLEGT Action Plan which aims to improve forest governance and combat illegal logging.

Forest & John Bitar & Co. Ltd.

Ghana and EU finalise assessment of Ghana Timber Legality Assurance System

12 February 2021

Ghana and the European Union (EU) have finalised an independent assessment of the legality assurance system described in the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on FLEGT between Ghana and the EU. The final report was shared with both parties on 31 December 2020, and they are now reviewing the findings and recommendations.

The assessment reviewed all aspects of Ghana’s licensing system to ascertain its fitness for purpose. The finalisation of the assessment is an important step in the VPA process, as it will inform the parties in their decision about Ghana’s readiness to issue FLEGT license.

The assessment concluded that the system was not ready. A major gap identified was the long-standing issue of conversion of extant leases to Timber Utilization Contracts, which requires the political approval of the Parliament to happen. Other gaps identified included the absence, or obsolescence, of forest management plans by the Forestry Commission, and the effective resolution of non-compliances associated with the supply chain.

Consequently, the assessment recommended that Ghana implement corrective actions to address the issues prior to launching the FLEGT licensing scheme.

*Source: Forest & John Bitar & Co. Ltd.*

Thanking the independent experts for their thorough analysis, the EU could not hide its disappointment in the failure of Ghana to start licensing. Ghana now has to work with resolve to crown its decade-long effort in the implementation of the VPA to address quickly all outstanding issues for FLEGT licensing.

“Ultimately, we expect FLEGT-licensed timber products to bring significant economic benefits to Ghana and its forestry sector, as they will automatically meet the requirements of the EU Timber Regulation”, said Ms Diana Acconcia, Head of the EU Delegation to Ghana.

On Ghana’s part, the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey, re-echoed the country position that “with the significant part of the Legality Assurance System (GhLAS) implementation behind us, Ghana’s remains committed to closing all identified gaps in order to come to the point of readiness for FLEGT licensing”.

The Ghana-EU Joint Monitoring Review Mechanism (JMRM), the joint committee overseeing the implementation of the agreement, will determine next steps based on the report. The next JMRM meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 2021.

European Forest Institute

The Republic of the Congo and the EU release 2018 annual report on VPA progress

12 December 2019

The Republic of the Congo and the EU have released a joint report on progress in implementing the Voluntary Partnership Agreement from January to December 2018.

The report describes progress made with the timber legality assurance system, institutional improvements, stakeholder engagement, communication, transparency and monitoring of the agreement.