(Business in Cameroon) - Following a complaint lodged by Greenpeace against Dutch wood importer, Fibois BV, for its involvement in the illegal trade of wood from Cameroon, a Dutch administrative court confirmed, on 24 June, an injunction issued by the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), in 2016.

Fibois is found guilty of two offenses. The first is related to not respecting the European regulation in terms of timber (EUTR). Secondly, Fibois BV was also declared negligent and pointed out for not complying with the European Union regulation in its transactions with the Cameroonian company, Compagnie de Commerce et de Transport (CCT). As a result, the Dutch company is now on a European Union watch list. If the company does not comply with the regulation, the wood importer could pay a fine of € 1,800 (close to FCfa 1.17 million) per cubic metre of timber and/or wood products with a maximum of € 90,000 (close to FCfa 59 million).

“The decision from the Dutch court against Fibois highlights the credibility and control in supply chains that the Cameroonian government can no longer ignore. We hope that those in charge at the Ministry of Forest and Fauna in Cameroon will implement laws to clean up the logging sector”, welcomed Eric Ini, Forest Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa. He recalls that the Cameroonian company CCT was supplying Fibois BV with a species called “azombé” from questionable sources.

S.A