The Government of Liberia, in collaboration with the European Union’s voluntary partnership agreement on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT), recently concluded the 11th Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) meeting in Monrovia.
The three-day meeting, held on Monday, June 24, 2024, at the Monrovia City Hall, 1st Street Sinkor, focused on promoting sustainable forest governance through voluntary partnership.
Key officials, including representatives from the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Ministry of Justice, Liberia Revenue Authority, and the European Union, attended the closing session of the meeting. They include Rudolph Merab, Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority; Cllr. Oswald Tweh, Minister of Justice; Hon. Philip C. Parker, IV, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Forestry Development Authority; Hon. James Dorbor Jallah, Commissioner, Liberia Revenue Authority; Amb Nona Deprez, Head of Delegation of the European Union in Liberia; and others.
The FLEGT program aims to reduce illegal logging and promote sustainable timber management through legally binding trade agreements between the EU and timber-producing countries.
FLEGT also works through voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs), which are legally binding trade agreements between the European Union (EU) and a timber-producing country outside the EU.
The purpose of a VPA is to ensure that timber and timber products exported to the EU come from legal sources. The agreement also helps timber-exporting countries stop illegal logging by improving the regulation and governance of the forest sector.
Amb. Nona Deprez, Head of Delegation of the European Union in Liberia, commended the participants for their active engagement and support during the JIC meeting. She highlighted the importance of revenue sharing among forest communities and emphasized the need to comply with EU regulations on deforestation-free products.
She emphasizes that the 11th JIC decision to take it to the next technical, Liberia implementation committee for the government to engage in in-depth discussion and payment of arrears, data reconciliation, tax credit, and performance bonds is a very positive sign to strengthen sector governance, and she looks forward to the report and advancement at the twelve JIC meetings on progress because it is an important issue.
She also said that the concession review phase two and its recommendation are another area where the EU perceives a potentially positive dynamic, and further discussions are necessary at the level of data recovery.
She lauded the FDA, and other ministries of government for the constructive and positive attitude of all stakeholders and the hard work of the facility unit and the technical team that made the meeting a success.
Deprez stressed that the technical section of the JIC meeting was enriching in exchanges and debate, and they are taking some important steps to move forward.
“I really appreciate, and I want to appreciate, that the government strives to move things forward,” she said. “Particularly important to the European Union is the third distribution and the sharing of revenue among the forest communities.
“This regulation without doubt provides a significant challenge for Liberia, but we want to stand together to support you in responding to this challenge. It also stands without any doubt that much work is needed to comply with the rules of transparency and traceability inherent in the EU regulation on deforestation-free products,” she said.
Philip C. Parker, IV, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Forestry Development Authority, acknowledged the progress made during the meeting and emphasized the importance of generating revenue from the forestry sector while balancing conservation efforts.
He also expressed appreciation to the VPA Secretariat for their hard work, putting together the presentations, and making it possible for them to reach the end of the meeting.
He said that at the tenth and eleventh JIC meetings, the first agenda item for the high-level opening section was progress on benefit sharing, and another agenda item from both the tenth and eleventh JICs was the integration of community forest into the VPA legality matrix.
“During this JIC, however, we were informed that only one of the seventh forestry management contracts is operating,” he said. “In addition to that, out of fifty-seven forestry management contracts, only six are operating; this is a red flag. For us to benefit from sharing and talking about the legality of laws from a commercial point of view, we actually have to have some functioning commercial laws in activity.”
According to him, the levels at which they are now suggest that there is an issue within the sector. “The sector needs to generate funds for the communities and the Republic of Liberia. During this JIC, we also talk about emerging trends and emerging market trends, and we also talk about carbon sequestration and conservation, all of which are very important to Liberia as we move forward.”
Meanwhile, the 11th JIC meeting also discussed emerging market trends, carbon sequestration, and conservation efforts to promote sustainable forest management in Liberia. Officials expressed optimism about the future of the forestry sector and the potential for economic growth through responsible forestry practices.
