The European Union and Ivory Coast have agreed to launch negotiations of a new trade agreement to combat illegal logging. The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), part of the EU's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, would set up control and licensing systems to ensure that all timber imported to the EU from Ivory Coast is legally produced.
The European Union and Ivory Coast have agreed to launch negotiations of a new trade agreement to combat illegal logging. The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), part of the EU's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, would set up control and licensing systems to ensure that all timber imported to the EU from Ivory Coast is legally produced.
"Illegal logging continues to have a devastating impact on some of the world's most valuable forests, and the people who depend on them to live and to make a living. Côte d'Ivoire exports 80 percent of its forestry products to the EU and as one of the biggest global markets for timber, the EU is part of both the problem and the solution. I hope that these negotiations will deliver a new agreement, which will be a crucial step forward in protecting this valuable forest before it's too late," European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said in a statement.
