No Market For Illegal Timber

Tight rules are being instituted to curb illegal timber trade in Ghana as some countries want to stop the destruction of forest by making it a criminal offence to trade in such timber.

This would protect the forest cover of these nations and ensure that foreign exchange goes directly to government.

Illegal logging is a major cause of deforestation in Ghana, contributing to the current global climate change.

Illegal logging causes governments to lose billions of dollars in revenue, environmental damage, promotes corruption and undermines the rule of law and good governance.

It retards sustainable development in some of the poorest countries of the world. Developed countries contribute to these problems by importing timber and wood products without ensuring that they are legally sourced.

Over the years, producer and consumer countries have paid increasing attention to illegal logging. The illegal timber business is taking a toll on Ghana, as well as the forest reserves of other African countries.

Over the years, producers and consumers of tropi¬cal timber have recognized that they have a joint responsibility to eradicate illegal logging to protect the environment.

The European Union is Ghana’s most valuable mar¬ket, accounting for 43 percent of the value of total exports and 33 percent of total volume.

Timber users in developed nations have been blamed for contributing to the environmental challenges of developing countries, as illegal logging has over the years been identified as a major driver of deforestation and climate change.

Importation of illegal logged timber is banned by most countries, but there are regular reports of such prohibited products on the market.

Previous attempts including the strengthening of environmental laws, establishment of task force to go after illegal timber loggers, who are usually chain saw operators, have not really stopped the supply chain.

It is reported that as much as 20 to 40 percent of global industrial wood production is from illegal sources, but the European Union (EU) is doing its part to ensure that illegally harvested timber and timber products are removed from the EU market.

The latest move to take illegal timber off the market was collaboration with key timber consumers of the EU who realize that they have an obligation to lead the world in fighting against the illegal timber trade.

To this end, the government of Ghana and EU are working together to ensure that timber exported out of the country is legally harvested.

This would assure European consumers that timber from Ghana is from legal sources.

Ghana has therefore signed a historic agree¬ment with the EU aimed at ensuring that only legally harvested timber from the country are exported to the EU mar¬ket.

The Forest Law Enforcement Gover¬nance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement was signed in the European Council in Brussels by Ghana’s Head of Mission to the European Union, Nana Bema Kumi, European Delegation Environment Commissioner, Stavros Dimas and Sweden’s Minister for Ag¬riculture, Eskil Erlandsson.

The agreement provides a legal frame¬work and monitoring system aimed at en¬suring that all timber imports from Ghana have been acquired, harvested, transported and exported in accordance with the law in Ghana.

The deal establishes a national legality assurance system for all commercial wood and wood products, which would also cover timber and timber products that are sold to non European markets as well as on the domestic market.

Ghana decided to enter into a voluntary partnership agreement to demonstrate its commitment to good forest governance as a means to maintain access to valued markets.

Ghana expects the agreement to help enhance its reforms in the forestry sector to ensure that the forest sector contributes to poverty alleviation and promotes investment in the sector to ensure the future viability of the industry.

The agreement was signed after a special committee set up by the EU proposed financial penalties for exporters who damage the environment.

These penalties, it revealed, must represent at least five times the value of the timber products obtained by committing a serious infringement, adding that they would increase in the event of repeat infringements.

With this agreement in place, all operators are required to provide basic information about the source of their products, countries as well as the forest of origin and through a traceability system.
They would be required to identify the operator who supplied the timber and the consumer.

Mr. Dimas, the European Delegation Environmental Commissioner, congratulated Ghana for being the first country to sign a voluntary partnership agreement with the EU.

He was sure that the deal would help improve forest governance in Ghana to ensure that timber imported from the country is not linked to illegal logging.

The implementation of the agreement would be provided through a multi-donor programme supported by the European Commission, France, The Netherlands, U.K and the World Bank.

Karel De Gucht, European Delegation Commission for Development and Humanitarian Aid explained that “this agreement is a major step forward for both Ghana and the EU to ensure that only legally harvested timber from Ghana enters the European market.

“This agreement is a real example of how partnership can lead to good governance practices to benefit both sides and also set an example for other countries to follow,” he said.

Under these agreements, exporting countries would develop systems to verify the legality of timber exports.

The EU would support them to improve systems, which adhere to le¬gal compliance.

A number of timber producing countries are currently negoti¬ating such agreements with the European Delegation.

The first shipment of timber products from Ghana, which are licensed un¬der the scheme, is expected at the end of 2010.

Customs officials in EU member states would ensure that only timber shipment that meets the legal requirements would be allowed into the market.

Ghana and EU view transparency and information disclosure as vital to ensure accountability, increase aware¬ness and establish credibility of systems established un¬der the agreement.

The two parties would produce annual public reports to review the effectiveness of actions under the agreement.

Successful implementation of the agreement would require political commitment and investment in a number of areas, as well as the strengthening of regulatory systems.