Liberia has signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU to guarantee the legality of its timber exports.
The agreement, which follows a similar EU deal with Indonesia, represents a triumph for the Liberian government’s reforms following years of illegal logging and corruption in the country’s timber industry. UN sanctions on Liberian timber exports were only lifted five years ago.
“This historic agreement is a stepping stone for a new, stronger Liberia, built on principles of good governance, transparency, and rule of law,” said Dr Florence Chenoweth, Liberia’s minister of agriculture, during a VPA ceremony in Monrovia on Monday.
“In the past, Liberia’s natural resources have been used to drive conflict and greed that benefited few and destroyed many lives. Now it is clear that we are committed to ensuring the gifts from our forests will benefit all Liberians now and in the future.”
As part of the VPA, Liberia has developed a comprehensive definition of legal timber that embraces all aspects of timber production, including allocation of harvesting rights, the sharing of benefits, worker rights, and taxes. Compliance with this definition will be monitored by the new Legality Assurance System, which builds on and expands the existing LiberFor chain of custody system.
It also includes a licensing scheme that will provide assurance of the legality of all Liberian timber exports, regardless of their market destination.
In addition, Liberia will work with an independent auditor, who will provide regular, public reports on the effectiveness of the system.
