-EU-Liberia VPA Joint Implementation Committee Reflects on Progress and Challenges in the Forestry Sector
The Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) overseeing the EU-Liberia Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) has met at the weekend and provided updates on the implementation of the VPA process.
A Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) is a legally binding trade agreement between the EU and a timber-exporting country outside the EU. A VPA aims to ensure that all timber and timber products destined for the EU market from a partner country comply with the laws of that country.
In addition to promoting trade in legal timber, VPAs is said to be addressing the causes of illegality by improving forest governance and law enforcement. A major strength of VPAs is that they look beyond trade to consider development and environmental issues
According to a press release from the European Union (EU) mission in Liberia, the meeting was held in Monrovia from 25 February – 1 March.
The 7th JIC meeting was co-chaired by Ambassador Hélène Cavé of the EU Delegation to Liberia and Hon. Harrison S. Karnwea, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).
The VPA aims to improve forest governance, address illegal logging and promote trade in verified legal timber products. As part of its VPA commitments, Liberia is progressing in the implementation of a system to verify the legality of its timber products from forest to point of export and essential milestones are about to be reached.
The JIC discussed progress made in implementing the system and improving the capacities of government agencies, the private sector, civil society and communities. The economic importance of the forest sector for Liberian´s economy was another point stressed at the JIC meeting. Several stakeholders noted the key role held by the chain of custody and legality assurance systems in support of the commercial sector in reaching its potential.
The JIC also discussed challenges, such as the Government of Liberia having not disbursed the legally required share of the land rental fee to the National Benefit Sharing Trust Board (NBSTB) due to budgetary constraints. The JIC agreed that more discussion is needed and that a mechanism needs to be established to facilitate future disbursements from the budget. The EU highlighted that Liberia’s legal framework for sharing of benefits with logging affected communities is exemplary, and that the National Union of Community Forestry Development Committees (NUCFDC), the NBSTB, the Government and all stakeholders should work together towards effectively implementing them, so as to be an example of best practices for other countries.
The VPA Secretariat presented the VPA transparency requirements and both parties stressed the importance of the availability of information on the forest sector. The FDA committed to make disaggregated information available to the public. The JIC also endorsed a specific communications strategy so as to reach out to the forest stakeholders and the broader public about VPA-related issues, including progress achieved and areas for improvement.
Participating stakeholders from Liberia included representatives of ministries and agencies of the Liberian Government, the NGO Coalition of Liberia, the Liberia Timber Association, the National Union of Community Forestry Development Committees, and the National Union of Community Forest Management Bodies.
International partners including the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank also attended the meeting.