VPA updateOctober 2010

An increasing number of countries are negotiating or implementing VPAs:

Where are we at? Are there lessons learnt? What are the challenges?

VPA stands for: Voluntary Partnership Agreement

LOGGINGOFF is a joint initiative by NGOs from European and timber-producing countries involved in or monitoring the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan, and specifically the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreements.

FLEGT VOLUNTARY PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS

What is a FLEGT VPA? How does the process work? Who are FLEGT partner countries?

FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements:• Are the central plank of the EU FLEGT action plan, which outlines

the EU’s response to the global problem of illegal logging and the trade in timber products.

• Are legally binding bilateral trade agreements between the EU and a timber exporting country (the FLEGT partner country).

• Set out the commitments and actions of both parties to tackle illegal logging, including measures to: increase participation of rightsholders and civil society; recognise communities’ right to the land and; address corruption.

• Should have the buy-in of national stakeholders, including NGOs, local communities, indigenous peoples, and the timber industry.

For more information on FLEGT see What is FLEGT For information on how a VPA works see What is a VPA

VPA process – how does it work?• The parties in the VPA process are: the EU and the government of

the timber producing country. • VPA negotiations start when both parties agree to take joint actions

to reform forest governance and address illegal logging. The parties must reach agreement on issues such as the list of laws to be monitored and systems in place to verify the legality of the timber.

• Negotiations end with the initialling of the VPA, but the agreement only enters into force once both parties have ratified it.

• FLEGT licences will not be given until the VPA is ratified and systems agreed put in place. From that moment onwards, only FLEGT timber can be exported from the partner country to the EU market.

For more information on the negotiation and ratification process, see how a VPA is ratified

FLEGT partner countries

VPA PROCESSES IN DETAIL

What are the challenges of VPAs? What have we learnt? Where are we heading?

Snapshot of VPA processesOpening

negotiationsInitialling Signature Ratification FLEGT licenses

Ghana 12/2006 09/2008 11/2009 11/2009 Exp. 12/2010

Rep of Congo 06/2008 05/2009 05/2010 Ongoing Exp. 07/2011

Cameroon 11/2007 05/2010 Ongoing Ongoing Exp. 07/2012

Malaysia 01/2007

Indonesia 01/2007

CAR 10/2009 Exp. 12/2010

Liberia 03/2009

Gabon 09/2010

DRC 11/2010?

Vietnam 11/2020?

Exp. = Expected by

VPAs under negotiationProcess Highlights & Challenges

Malaysia• Negotiations

started in 01/2007• Divergent stakeholder interests and complex dialogue between state and

federal administrations• Rights of indigenous peoples to land are a key contentious issue• It is rumoured say that this VPA will soon be postponed indefinitely

Indonesia• Negotiations

started in 01/2007

• Negotiations were stalled for many months but have re-started• Definition of legality is agreed between stakeholders and has been tested• There is concern that the possibility of Reduced Emissions from

Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) money is complicating discussions

CAR• Negotiations

started in 10/2009

• Expected to conclude 12/2010

• Negotiations move forwards quickly but with the involvement of all actors

• Very little capacity, but a lot of willingness, from national stakeholders to engage in the process

Liberia• Negotiations

started in 03/2010• Discussions are moving slowly• National stakeholders have limited capacity to engage in the process and

are not prioritising discussions

Gabon• Negotiations

started in 09/2010• The level of interest of the (fairly) new administration is unclear• High interest from national civil society organisations• Low capacity of local communities to participate in the process

Challenges of VPA negotiations1) Proper stakeholder involvement• Involving everyone with a right/stake is essential to achieve support for

the resulting VPA as well as to ensure its legitimacy. This takes time.• Identifying rights and defining a process to ensure the right people are

involved in the negotiations is complex, and slows down the process.2) Allocate enough time• Realistic timeframes are needed to ensure effective participation.• Some feel the process is too slow, while others see it as being too fast:

There is a very thin line between maintaining interest vs. allowing time for effective participation

3) Real political will to reach a consensus• All sides must be willing to compromise to reach consensus

Concluded VPAs

VPAs are only public once they are ratified. Until then, official summaries of concluded VPAs are available on the EC Website and NGO counter briefs at www.loggingoff.info

Process Highlights & Challenges

Ghana

• Concluded 09/2008, ratification process under way

• FLEGT licenses expected 12/2010

• LAS will apply to all exports and to the internal market• Includes commitments for a legal reform process• Implementation took a long time to start• LAS is under development, but actions on other commitments

are yet to be taken• Implementation may have been hampered by the possibility of

REDD money

Rep of Congo

• Concluded 05/2009, ratification process under way

• FLEGT licenses expected 07/2011

• LAS will apply to all exports and to the internal market• Includes commitments for legal reform process• Strong multi-stakeholder participation and dynamic process• Legality definition and traceability systems field tested; new laws

are under development

Cameroon

• Concluded 05/2010, ratification process under way

• FLEGT licenses expected 07/2012

• LAS will apply to all exports and to the internal market. The upgrade of current system will take 2 years

• Includes commitments to strengthening the legal framework with laws outlining the rights of communities and indigenous peoples

Slow and complex: why bother?Lessons from VPA negotiations

• Strengthens democracy: Government, civil society and the private sector work together.

• Increases capacity: Rights/stakeholders participate in a process that improves the capacity of civil society.

• Commits to addressing key governance failures: VPAs create the framework for rights/stakeholders to improve forest governance.

• Defines joint producer - consumer country action: VPAs combine trade and development perspectives.

VPAs that lead to socially just and environmentally sound forest management are dependent on successful implementation of agreed commitments.

Questions around VPA implementation:Future challenges

1) Ensure effective participation of all stakeholders during the implementation and monitoring of the VPA.

2) Maintaining the momentumHow to deal with the drop in energy after intensive negotiations? Can agreed timeframes keep interest levels high? What are the roles of the ‘EU-FLEGT Partner Country JIC’ (Joint Implementation Committee), and the different stakeholders? Can linkages with related processes (i.e. REDD) ensure continued interest?

3) Keeping focused on the real issues• How to ensure that actions keep focused on governance reform and not on

facilitating trade?• How to ensure that action to establishing the traceability system goes hand in

hand with actions linked to governance reform?

Process Highlights & Challenges

DRC

• Joint statement expected to be signed on 10/2010

• Negotiations expected to start in 12/2010

• Huge country, complex national and provincial administration, different stakeholder interest s, very low enforcement capacity

• Artisanal timber sector a key challenge

Vietnam

• Joint statement signed on 08/2010

• Negotiations scheduled to start in 11/2010

• Different VPA angle: timber processing (and not producing) country • Main concern is meaningful multi-stakeholder process - Civil society

cannot engage freely in political processes

VPAs under pre-negotiation talks

(Possible) Upcoming VPAs

AfricaWest - Interest from Sierra Leone and Cote d’IvoireEast - Madagascar and Mozambique have been considered at times

AsiaThe EU is considering a regional approach with the Mekong region. European Forest Institute (EFI) FLEGT facility has a South East Asia programme dealing with this region and studies have been commissioned to learn about governance challenges in the area.

Latin AmericaGuyana has expressed interest to negotiate a VPA in its Guyana-Norway REDD commitment, and may start negotiations soon.Information missions to some countries have been undertaken by the EFI EU FLEGT Facility on behalf of the EU. Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras and Peru are all in the picture.

FITTING ACTIONS TOGETHER

What does the future hold? Will FLEGT VPAs deliver? Where do they fit within the broader political context? How do illegal timber laws, timber procurement policies and VPAs work together? Can REDD undermine all of this?

What does the future hold?Will FLEGT deliver?

• Though results to date are promising, it is too early to say.

• Keeping up with the demand (for more VPAs) from timber producing countries while ensuring that FLEGT principles are met, will be a crucial ingredient for success.

• Implementation of agreed commitments is key. Only then will different stakeholders remain committed to the process.

• FLEGT must secure its place among policy makers. Its potential to improve forest governance must be recognised more widely.

• REDD, as currently envisaged, threatens to seriously undermine FLEGT processes.

• Synergy between VPAs and other processes that could have an impact on forest governance, such as REDD, should be ensured.

Illegal timber laws and FLEGT VPAs

• Closing markets to illegal timber offers an incentive for countries to negotiate a VPA.

• The EU and the US have developed laws that make it illegal to import illegal timber and timber products into their markets. Those laws are known as the EU ‘Illegal timber regulation’ and the US ‘Lacey Act’.

• Anyone trading in timber will have to provide proof that the products they put on the EU or US market comply with the laws of the producer country.

• Once a VPA is operational and a Legality Assurance Systems is in place, FLEGT licensed timber should provide sufficient assurance that the timber is from legal sources.

Timber procurement and VPAs

• Five EU Member States (the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany) have implemented a timber procurement policy, which allows government agencies to purchase only legal and/or sustainably produced timber

• FLEGT licenses qualify as being legally produced and most FSC and PEFC certificates qualify as sustainably produced. Over time these countries aim to only purchase sustainably produced timber

• Denmark has a similar policy, which, unlike the other five, is not legally binding

• Several other EU Member States are in the process of developing such a policy. This was a suggestion made in the EU FLEGT Action Plan (2003)

For more information on public procurement policies in the EU see: ‘Buying a Sustainable Future’; FERN (2009) available at www.fern.org/sustainablefuture

REDD: will it destroy all the achievements?

• Negotiations towards a national REDD plan have had a negative effect in all countries that are negotiating a VPA

• The FLEGT VPAs are based on a fully inclusive participatory process which was developed over periods varying from one to several years

• In August 2010, all finalised VPAs included commitments for law reform and were supported by national civil society

• National level REDD plans have not been developed in a full participatory process, are often lead by conservation interests, don’t address the need for forest law reform and are under time pressure

For more information see ‘Is REDD undermining FLEGT’, FERN (2009).

If you would like further information about the FLEGT action plan and how it is being implemented, please contactIola Leal or Saskia Ozingat +32 (0)496 205500 (Iola)

+44(0)1608 652895 (Saskia)e iola@fern.orgsaskia@fern.org

You will also find more information about FLEGT VPAs and other related issues at www.loggingoff.info

LOGGINGOFF is a joint initiative by NGOs from European and timber-producing countries involved in or monitoring the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan, and specifically the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreements.

LOGGINGOFF

Online resource for information

on VPAs