Under the innovative initiative known as Global Gateway, Ghana and the European Union (EU) have ushered in a fresh era aimed at confronting the menace of illegal timber trade. Ghana steps into the spotlight as the pioneering African nation, and the second on a global scale, to furnish the EU with export licenses authenticating the legality of their timber merchandise. This significant stride materialized in Brussels during a pivotal session of the Ghana-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) enforcement entity.
This collaboration encompasses a diverse array of stakeholders, including the Ghanaian forest administrative authorities, the private sector, civil society, and the European Commission. The coalition has ironed out the concluding prerequisites for the issuance of FLEGT licenses, sketching a promising vista in the crusade against illicit timber trade.
European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, extolled Ghana’s relentless zeal towards embracing sustainable forest stewardship and curtailing illegal logging. The amalgamation of efforts between the Ghanaian government, the forestry sector, and European accomplices has navigated FLEGT licensing within grasp. Urpilainen accentuated that this attainment echoes the potency of global synergy in tackling pivotal environmental quandaries like deforestation and unlawful logging.
On his part, Ghana’s Hon. Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel A. Jinapor, underscored the quantum leaps in forest governance owing to the inception and application of the timber legality assurance system. The impending rollout of FLEGT licenses for the EU market, alongside similar licenses for other global markets, will adhere to identical legality benchmarks. He envisaged this progression as a coherent pathway towards fortifying the strides made in sustainable forest administration and governance. Jinapor reaffirmed Ghana’s unwavering allegiance to the VPA and its broader objective of arresting and overturning forest depletion and land dilapidation by the year 2030.
A FLEGT license is an export-oriented certification, emanating from a VPA partner nation for timber or timber derivatives destined for the EU marketplace. This certification vouches for the legality of the exported timber products. The encompassed timber goods, bearing valid FLEGT licenses, seamlessly comply with the EU Timber Regulation standards, which disallow the entry of illegally harvested timber and its by-products onto the EU market. It mandates first-time market entrants to adhere to due diligence ensuring the legality of the timber products. FLEGT-licensed merchandise will bypass due diligence scrutiny.
Ghana has embarked on a vital legislative revamp within its forest sector to augment forest governance and align with the VPA stipulations, thus ensuring transparency. Through the VPA, Ghana is revamping operations, ensuring that the forestry sector morphs into a substantial employment generator and a conduit for societal benefits via Social Responsibility Agreements. The EU discerns the VPA as a linchpin in realizing the EU’s FLEGT Action Plan.
The Global Gateway initiative is nestled within the broader scope of the EU Global Gateway strategy aimed at fostering sustainable and trustworthy alliances. This strategy stands at the vanguard of addressing urgent global challenges, notably climate change mitigation and bolstering the security of global supply chains. This unprecedented Ghana-EU partnership, thus, not only delineates a robust response to illegal timber trade but epitomizes a global model of sustainable trade and environmental stewardship.
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