Proposal for a Council Decision on the signature and conclusion of a voluntary partnership agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Ghana on forest law enforcement, governance and trade in timber products into the Community
Date: 2009-09-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Ghana, action programme, forestry economics, forestry holding, forestry legislation, fraud, governance, international cooperation, sustainable development, trading operation

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.9.2009 
COM(2009) 468 final 

2009/0126 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the signature and conclusion of a voluntary partnership agreement between the 
European Community and the Republic of Ghana on forest law enforcement, 
governance and trade in timber products into the Community 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), 1 endorsed by 
the  Council  in  20032,  proposes  a  set  of  measures  that  include  support  for  timber  producing 
countries, multilateral collaboration to tackle trade in illegal timber, support for private sector 
initiatives and also measures to avoid investment in activities that encourage illegal logging. 
The cornerstone of the Action Plan is the establishment of FLEGT Partnerships between the 
Community  and  timber  producing  countries  aimed  at  stopping  illegal  logging.  In  2005,  the 
Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 2173/20053 which establishes a licensing scheme and a 
mechanism to verify the legality of timber imports into the Community. 

In  December  2005,  the  Council  issued  directives  instructing  the  Commission  to  negotiate 
partnership  agreements  with  timber  producing  countries  so  as  to  implement  the  EU  Forest 
Law  Enforcement,  Governance  and  Trade  (FLEGT)  Action  Plan  and  in  particular  to 
encourage  trade  in  verified  legal  timber  imports  into  the  Community  from  such  partner 
countries.4  The  agreement  with  Ghana  is  the  first  such  Partnership  Agreement  to  be 
negotiated between a producer country and the Community. 

The  Commission  entered  into  negotiations  with  Ghana  in  February  2007.  Negotiations 
proceeded  over  18  months  and  involved  four  face–to-face  sessions  and  seven  technical 
working  level  meetings.  Throughout  the  negotiations,  the  Commission  has  been  assisted  in 
this task by a number of Member States. The Commission has kept the Council updated on 
progress throughout the period with regular reports to the Working Party on Forests, as well 
as to EU Heads of Mission and representatives based in Ghana. After each negotiation session 
the  parties  held  public  update  meetings  to  keep  stakeholders  informed  of  progress  with  the 
talks.  In  addition,  Ghana  adopted  a  participatory  approach  involving  civil  society  and  the 
private sector in the development of the agreement.  

The agreement addresses all the elements contained in the Council negotiating directives. In 
particular, the Agreement establishes the framework, institutions and systems of the FLEGT 
licensing  scheme.  It  outlines  the  supply  chain  controls,  legal  compliance  framework  and 
independent audit requirements for the system. These are set out in Annexes to the Agreement 
and provide a detailed description of the structures that will underpin the assurance of legality 
afforded  by  the  issuance  of  a  FLEGT  licence.  Ghana  developed  its  definition  of  applicable 
legislation  through  extensive  stakeholder  consultations.  It  includes  laws  and  regulations 
granting  rights  to  harvest,  forest  management,  environmental  and  labour  legislation,  fiscal 
requirements, respect for tenure and use rights of land-owning communities, and other social 
obligations prescribed in forest related laws, as well as export trade requirements.  

The  Agreement  goes  beyond  the  limited  product  coverage  proposed  in  Annex  II  of  the 
FLEGT Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 to cover trade in all timber products and, in doing so, 
commits  Ghana  to  building  a  system  that  will  provide  assurance  to  the  Community  that  all 
forest products from Ghana are legally produced and contributing positively and sustainably 
to Ghana's growth. 

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COM (2003) 251 
OJ C268, 7.11.2003 
OJ L347, 30.12.2005 
Council restricted document 15102/05  

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The  Agreement  makes  provision  for  controls  of  imports  at  the  Community’s  borders  as 
established  by  FLEGT  Regulation  (EC)  No  2173/2005  and  its  associated  Implementing 
Regulation  No 1024/2008.  The  Agreement  includes  a  description  of  the  Ghana  FLEGT 
licence which adopts the format prescribed in Implementing Regulation (EC) No 1024/2008. 

The Agreement establishes the mechanism for dialogue and cooperation on FLEGT with the 
Community,  known  as  the  Joint  Monitoring  and  Review  Mechanism.  It  also  establishes 
principles  of  stakeholder  participation,  social  safeguards  and  transparency,  for  monitoring 
impacts and reporting.  

The Agreement sets out a time frame and the procedures for entry into force of the Agreement 
and the implementation of the licensing scheme. Since Ghana will upgrade  and  redesign its 
regulatory and information management system, introduce more comprehensive supply chain 
controls,  and  establish  independent  verification  of  legal  compliance,  the  new  systems  will 
take several years to develop and test and to build capacity of government, civil society and 
the private sector for the envisaged tasks. The FLEGT licence scheme is expected to be fully 
operational by the end of 2010. The licence scheme will be assessed against defined criteria 
before the EU begins accepting FLEGT licences. The steps and process for this are defined in 
the Agreement and Annexes.  

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2009/0126 (ACC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the signature and conclusion of a voluntary partnership agreement between the 
European Community and the Republic of Ghana on forest law enforcement, 
governance and trade in timber products into the Community 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 
133 thereof in conjunction with Article 300 (2), first subparagraph, and (4) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

In May 2003, the European Commission published an EU Action Plan for Forest Law 
Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT)5 which called for measures to address 
illegal  logging  through  the  development  of  voluntary  partnership  agreements  with 
timber producing countries. Council Conclusions on the Action Plan were adopted in 
October 20036 and Parliament passed a motion in January 20047.  

On 5 December 2005, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations on 
partnership  agreements  to  implement  the  EU  action  plan  for  forest  law  enforcement 
governance and trade (FLEGT). 

On 20 December 2005, the Council adopted Council Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 
establishing  a  FLEGT  licensing  scheme  for  imports  of  timber  into  the  European 
Community  from  countries  with  whom  the  Community  has  concluded  voluntary 
Partnership Agreements8.  

The negotiations with the Republic of Ghana have been concluded, and the voluntary 
partnership agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the European Community 
on  forest  law  enforcement,  governance  and  trade  in  timber  products  into  the 
Community (hereinafter referred to as "the Agreement") was initialled on 3 September 
2008. 

(5) 

Therefore it is in the interest of the Community to approve the Agreement, 

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COM (2003) 251 
OJ C268, 7.11.2003 
Parliament document 7014/04. 
OJ L347, 30.12.2005 

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HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:  

Article 1 

1. 

The  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Republic  of  Ghana  on 
forest law enforcement, governance and trade in timber products into the Community 
is hereby approved on behalf of the Community. 

2. 

The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision. 

Article 2 

The  Community  shall  be  represented  by  representatives  of  the  Commission  in  the  Joint 
Monitoring and Review Mechanism established in this Agreement in accordance with Article 
19 thereof.  

Article 3 

For the purposes of applying Article 26 of the Agreement, the Commission is authorised, in 
accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article  11(3)  of  Regulation  2173/2005,  to 
conclude the instruments required to amend the Annexes to the Agreement.  

Article 4 

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person empowered to sign 
the Agreement in order to express the consent of the Community to be bound thereby.9 

Article 5 

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Done at Brussels, […] 

For the Council 
The President 
[…] 

9 

Date of entry into force of Agreement will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union 
by the Secretary General of the Council 

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