The members were meeting yesterday, Wednesday 13th April, in a workshop organised in Yaounde to train on the control of forest activities. Enlightening the participants on the reasons for Cameroon’s adherence to the VPA/FLEGT negotiation, the Director of Forests of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Samuel Ebia Ndongo, said the FLEGT dispensation will enable Cameroon secure an important share of the European wood market that imports over 80 per cent of Cameroonian wood; reassure the European consumer on the legality of wood coming from Cameroon and give Cameroon a positive image and more credibility on the international scene.
In subsequent presentations, members learnt that all wood processed for foreign and domestic markets must be subject to the FLEGT authorisation process that involves a number of procedures to ensure that it is produced legally. Emphasis was laid on the stages of the legality verification system that ends with the deliverance of Certificates of Legality, renewable every year. Another important principle the members were told to hold fast to was the traceability of forest products to establish their origin, mode of acquisition, processing and destination. In this regard, Henri Charles Akagou Zedong, another speaker from the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, revealed that a project on the setting up of a new wood traceability system in Cameroon had started in April 2010 and would lead, by the end of 34 months, to the issuing of the first FLEGT authorisations.
The workshop that was run in six phases ended with a definition of the assignments to the steering committee of the independent observer project which is expected to play a key role in ensuring good governance in the forest sector under the VPA/FLEGT regulatory framework.
