CI-NEWS

Raw wood exportation to end in 2021

2020-10-06

No: 537

Raw wood exportation to end in 2021

In a recent meeting, via video conference, Ministers in charge of Forestry and the Environment in the Congo Basin have resolved to ban the exportation of raw wood, by January 1, 2022.

Backing the decision, they have announced the establishment of wood processing firms in the Central African Region. The decision stipulates that “some primary, secondary and tertiary transformation firms shall be put in place before the said deadline.”

In order to attain the objective, the Ministers proceeded to validate the creation of a Regional Committee for the Sustainable Industrialisation of the timber sector in the Congo Basin. The committee, the Ministers said, will also ensure the effective development of forest plantations in the Central African Region by ensuring that the International School of Agriculture and Woodwork is transformed into as a Sub-Regional University Institution. The University Institution shall concentrate in vocational training, with specialization in woodwork.

The Council of Ministers urged the Central African Monetary and Economic Community Commission to develop appropriate taxation principles that could be integrated into the different member-countries’ legislature.

According to a timber regulatory body, Global Timber, “Cameroon’s timber exports have surged since the early 1990s. Reasons for this include greatly increased interest from East Asia, coupled with the response of the ruling elite to pressure from creditors who demanded the introduction – and phased implementation – of a new forestry code.”

The structure further observed that a “recent ban on the export of certain species in log form has prompted such excessive and ad hoc investment in timber processing facilities that current log input capacity exceeds that which can be produced sustainably.”

Warning

According to the Centre for International Forestry Research, CIFOR, forest exploitation accounts for “about 20 per cent of the balance of payments and seven per cent of the GDP in Cameroon.” It says “logging is now one of the most important industries within Cameroon’s economy.”

In a study, CIFOR warns that “an important problem of the logging industry is the low level of processing capacity which results in export levels for raw logs far in excess, above government targets, and reduces the contribution of the logging industry to the national economy.”

To address the situation, experts have challenged the government to complement the already existing measures with “stronger fiscal and financial incentives to promote the development of processing capacity” at the national level.

Culled from Cameroon Insider

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Raw wood exportation to end in 2021