the wood and wood products industry
FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement
Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) with producer countries are one of the major components of the FLEGT Action Plan. Market benefits are the key consideration for any country entering into a VPA, and as such the introduction of EU legislation to address the import of illegal timber products into the EU is quite crucial. The key aim of the VPA is to put in place a licensing system to prove that the timber exported from that country is legal. However, the package of assistance offered by the EU will not only support the requirements of the legality licence and improve forest governance, but also provide wider benefits for the local communities and indigenous people.
As the name suggests, the VPA is voluntary for producer countries. However, once the licensing system is up and running, no export from the partner country to the EU will be permitted unless it is accompanied by a legality licence. Each agreement with the EU is negotiated seperately and is individual to that country. To date Ghana signed in September 2008 and Congo Brazzaville in May 2009. Several other countries are now in the negotiation process: Malaysia, Indonesia, Liberia, Vietnam and Cameroon for instance. Once the agreement has been signed then the work on the licensing system can begin. This can also take time. In the cases of Ghana and Congo Brazzaville current estimates are that it will take around 2-3 years from the date of signing the VPA to get the licensing systems up and running.
