(Business in Cameroon) - Authorities want a logotype label affixed on wood products destined for the European Markets from the country. With assistance from the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Support Program for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP-FLEGT Support Program), Cameroon has in the last two years worked on how to identify wood from here. “It will consist in putting on each wood that leaves Cameroon a kind of a stamp, FLEGET-Cameroun,” according to Samuel EbiaNdongo, project coordinator. With the stamp, competiveness of the country’s wood will increase, and it will show compliance with legislation.

Moreover, it will, according to authorities, ensure a sustainable management of the country’s forest and the effective eradication of illegal logging in the country. “There is a legality verification system that has been put in place through which there is traceability of timber from the forest to the market. You can certify that this timber comes from this forest and has been produced in respect of all the legality needed of forest products,” EbiaNdongo, explains the reason d’être of certifying Cameroon wood.

A decision from the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife will institutionalize the label as well as schedule a promotion plan in Cameroon and abroad.    

ACP-FLEGT Support Program is a collaborative effort among the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the European Commission and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) to address forest law enforcement, governance and trade issues in ACP member countries.

JV