Stakeholders work out new criteria for legal exploitation in order to break through the international market.

European countries, the major destiny for timber market for central Africa have threatened to seal the doors of the market to wood coming from the sub-region. They claim that the greater majority of the timber sold to them is illegally exploited. As one of the major exporters of timeber to Europe, the Cameroonian government has decided to review its criteria for illegality ahead of an accord to be signed with the European Union come January, 2007 to ease the flow of timber into the market.

 
Stakeholders met in Yaounde to that effect, last Friday, 08 September to identifiy some of the elements that make up legal exploitation of timber. The meeting took place within the context of determination from the authorities to flushout illegal exploiters and cleanse the forestry sector. The agreement to be signed with the European Union will ensure that only legally exploited timber will be exported to Europe. Minister Achuo Egbe Hillman, who presided at the ceremony recalled the seriousness of the reservation so far expressed by European countries. The said countries, he said, have threatened to close the doors of their market to timber from the sub-region should something urgent not be done to reverse the situation. "Many of these countries have officially stated their intension to ban the use of timber where the legality of its exploitation cannot be established", he said.

As explained by the Director of Cooperation and Programming at the ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Koulagna Koutou Denis, "the agreement which will be negotiated and signed in January, 2007, will ensure that only legally exploited timber is exported to Europe" He underscored the fact that the two parties, the European Union and Cameroon, will have to agree on what legality is all about. "Illegality is something difficult to determine, so, we really need to agree on the definition of legal exploitation", he said. According to Mr Koulagna Koutou, in Cameroonian law, timber is considered legal if the legislation related to the following themes is enforced: forest, environment, land tenure, common law, exploitation rights, labour law, health and safety and trade.

Participating in the workskop were the following stakeholders: forestry exploiters, members of the civil society, administrators and development partners.