EU and Guyana join forces to combat illegal logging and promote trade in legal timber

The EU and Guyana have concluded negotiations on a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT). The new agreement will give EU-based timber buyers assurance that timber products from Guyana are legal. It will help improve forest governance, tackle illegal logging and promote trade in verified legal timber products.

Through the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, Guyana will tackle the trade in timber that has been illegally harvested, transported or processed. In this way, Guyana will improve market access for law-abiding businesses, as well as modernise its forestry sector, create jobs, promote sustainable development and protect the rights of indigenous peoples.

Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said: “This is an important step towards promoting the sustainable development of timber trade, protecting our planet and at the same time creating jobs and contributing to the competitiveness of the forestry sector. The EU is committed to supporting Guyana’s efforts to implement the Voluntary Partnership Agreement in the years ahead.”

The agreement will enter into force as soon as the EU and Guyana have completed their internal procedures for signing and ratifying it. To implement the agreement, Guyana will develop systems and procedures to verify that all timber and timber products comply with relevant laws and regulations. Among other things, this means ensuring that loggers don’t fell more trees than they are allowed to harvest, factories uphold health and safety regulations, and companies pay sufficient taxes. This process will involve identifying and addressing possible gaps in the forest allocation process and in the legal framework, upgrading systems for tracking wood through the supply chain, improving procedures for verifying legal compliance, and supporting Guyana in developing approaches for ensuring that the traditional rights of Amerindian peoples are not impeded.

Original source: European Commission
Published on 23 November 2018