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European Forest Institute

EU to conclude deal to stop illegal timber extraction from Republic of Congo
First bilateral pact with Congo Basin nation uses power of European
Market to curb rise of illegal timber harvests in Africa



BRUSSELS and BRAZZAVILLE (9 May 2009)-The European Union and the
Government of the Republic of Congo today announced a new agreement that
for the first time establishes a system to ensure wood products exported
from the Republic of Congo to the EU contain no illegally harvested
timber and are derived from managed forests that benefit local communities.

The Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, exports about
USD$330 million annually in timber and timber products, about half of
which are purchased by EU countries. Italy, Spain, Portugal, France,
Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are the principle EU importers. But
it has been difficult to confirm whether the wood products coming into
the EU from Republic of Congo have been derived from timber harvested in
accordance with national laws and that the benefits from timber sales
are shared with forest communities.

"With a total of 4,674,320 acres of certified forests as of March 2009,
Congo has reached the highest echelon of tropical wood producing
countries and is becoming a laboratory for sustainable forest
management," said Henri Djombo, Congo's Minister of Forest Economy. "The
conclusion of this agreement will guarantee our country new
opportunities in timber markets while participating in reinforcing
governance in that sector and illustrating Congo's political commitment
to work in that direction."


The accord announced today in Brazzaville is a legally binding bilateral
pact known as a Voluntary Partnership Agreement or VPA-an instrument
that emerged from the European Commission's 2003 Action Plan on Forest
Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) that is designed to halt
the flow of illegal timber into EU markets. It is the culmination of
several years of work between the EU, the government of Republic of
Congo, and civil societies groups that, rather than impose EU standards,
allows the national government and various stakeholder groups to
establish their own system for defining and enforcing legal requirements
for timber sales.

"With measures in place to strengthen control of the legality of wood on
the ground, and ensure greater transparency and monitoring of practices
in terms of enforcement, the agreement contains strong elements that
will reassure European consumers of the origin of timber imported from
the Republic of Congo, "said Stefano Manservisi, Director General for
Development, European Commission. "This will in turn reinforce efforts
undertaken in recent years by the Republic of Congo to sustainably
manage forests and will permit the development of a legal and profitable
trade between the EU and the Republic of Congo. "

The World Bank estimates that insufficient regulation of timber
production is currently costing Republic of Congo millions annually in
lost revenue. In addition, while the country is now heavily dependent on
oil exports for revenue, in February the World Bank warned that oil
revenues in the Republic of Congo will soon sharply decline. Such a drop
would put more pressure on forests in the fragile Congo Basin-the
world's second largest tropical forest-to provide much needed export
earnings, thus boosting the incentive for illegal harvests.



Under the new agreement, starting in 2011 all timber and timber products
entering the EU from Republic of Congo will be required to carry a
license showing that they contain legally harvested and sold wood and
that they have been obtained in a manner that maintains the health of
the country's forests and provides benefits to local forest communities.

For example, the agreement establishes a transparent system for
collecting timber taxes and ensuring that timber harvests and sales are
in compliance with national law. Meanwhile, the EU has committed to
establishing border measures that will exclude unlicensed timber while
providing technical assistance to Republic of Congo for enforcement and
auditing systems.

Also, to ensure compliance, the agreement includes an extensive "chain
of custody" requirement for the independent tracking of all timber
shipments at each point in production, from the felling of trees in the
forests to their transport to saw mills to their arrival at the point of
export. In addition, the VPA process has created a mechanism that for
the first time is allowing civil society groups in Republic of Congo to
participate directly in shaping laws and policies on forest governance
and monitoring industrial logging operations.

The VPA with Republic of Congo is the first in the Congo Basin and the
second in a series of bilateral accords being negotiated between the EU
and timber producing countries. A VPA between the EU and Ghana was
announced in September of 2008 and negotiations are underway to develop
agreements with Cameroon, Liberia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. In
addition, preliminary discussions have begun with the Government of
Gabon, and Central African Republic has also expressed interest in
negotiating deals.

"There is much work that remains to be done, but we believe a framework
has been established with the potential to give local communities in
Republic of Congo unprecedented influence over to what happens to the
forests that are so critical to their survival and their culture," said
Roch Euloge N'Zobo, Programme Director of the Congolese Observer for the
Rights of Man (OCDH), an NGO that has been involved in the VPA
negotiations. "A mechanism has been put in place that will bring civil
society, government, local groups, independent monitors and European
regulators to the table, and this gives us hope that local forest
peoples will be heard, their rights respected, and their concerns
addressed."

The VPA announced today only covers trade with the EU. But officials in
the Republic of Congo have indicated they will apply the licensing
provisions and intensive level of oversight prescribed by the pact to
all timber exported from the country. Such a move has the potential to
increase oversight of the rapidly growing exports of tropical logs to
China from timber operations in the southern part of the country, where
questions have been raised about the legality and sustainability of
logging concessions.

Raw log exports are generally viewed as undesirable because they provide
relatively paltry domestic revenues compared to milled or "sawn" timber
and are considered by forestry experts as much more likely to encourage
unsustainable harvests. Today, more than 70 percent of exports to the EU
from Republic of Congo are sawn wood. However, the rapid growth in
timber exports to China-from USD$3 million worth of wood in 2000 to
USD$130 million in 2007-has mainly involved logs.

"British Traders congratulate the Government of the Republic of Congo
and the European Commission on their progress, which will make it easier
for companies to be sure of the legality of products they buy from Congo
Brazzaville," said Rachel Butler, Head of Sustainability for UK Timber
Trade Federation, which represents the UK wood and wood products
industry. "We have always welcomed the EU FLEGT Action Plan and in
particular the EU's recently proposed Due Diligence Regulation. This
regulation will support our quest for a level playing field in the
market, encouraging buyers to purchase legal timber, and therefore
supporting producers who act responsibly."

Beyond VPAs, the FLEGT Action Plan also includes EU commitments to
require legal and sustainable wood for government purchasing in Member
States, and a (as yet undefined) legislative measure to increase risks
associated with importing wood from unknown, potentially illegal, sources.

Legal and sustainable public purchasing requirements have been taken
into national policy by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the
Netherlands and the UK. Public procurement of timber and wood products
is thought to account for up to 20 percent of the total EU market.

The EU is developing legislation to further reinforce these partnership
agreements, which is expected to complement the recent revision of the
US Lacey Act, making the import and sale of illegal wood products
illegal under US law.

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Disclaimer: This press release is carried out with the financial support
from the European Union. The contents of this press release can in no
way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

The European Forest Institute (EFI) is funded by the European Commission
and the Governments of the UK and Finland to provide technical support
to the preparation, negotiation and implementation of FLEGT Voluntary
Partnership Agreements in a number of tropical forest countries. EFI is
an international organisation established by European States. It is the
leading institution conducting and advocating forest research and
facilitating forest research networking at the pan-European level. It is
an acknowledged provider of and a major contact point for unbiased,
policy-relevant information on European forests and forestry. For more
information, please visit: http://www.efi.int.

Note to editors: For background information and photos, please visit:
http://www.efi.int/portal/projects/flegt/roc_vpa_conclusion

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/bc-etc050609.php