Policy options for improved integration of domestic timber markets under the voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) regime in Gabon

Guillaume Lescuyer · Saturnin Ndotit · Laurentine Bilogo bi Ndong · Raphaël Tsanga · Paolo Omar Cerutti

Oct 2014 · CIFOR Infobrief Book 82 · CIFOR

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 Gabon officially entered into VPA negotiations in September 2010. The initial engagement resulted in agreement on a road map and the production of a legality matrix. However, the latter has not yet been validated and negotiations were resumed only recently. It is difficult to predict the final coverage of the VPA, but available information seems to indicate that it will also cover the domestic market. The domestic timber market has undergone a drastic transformation in recent years. Pro-Formal results indicate that the domestic consumption of artisanal sawn wood decreased by almost half in 2008–2012, and that more timber than in the past is now supplied by industrial scraps, as industrial production for the national market increased during the same period. These trends are largely explained by the financial crisis, a log export ban effective as of 2010 that forced industrial companies to process timber locally, and increased control and enforcement efforts.