European Union partners Cameroon on African Timber Probuct

“It was partnering with Cameroon to discourage the prohibited export of timber products from the African country” The European Union (EU) said. According to this statement obtained by the Pan African News Agency (PANA) on Friday in New York, the EU said that the partnership required all wood products exported to the EU from Cameroon to have a license showing the legal origin of timber and wood products.

The European commissioner for development”Mr. Andris Piebalgs”, said that the agreement was a positive step in the effort to control illegal logging of Timber product.

‘It will benefit the European consumers because they can be sure that when they buy wood from Cameroon, it is from a legal origin,’ he said in the statement.

‘This agreement is a major step forward in our fight against illegal logging and will contribute to economic development and poverty alleviation in Cameroon,’ Piebalgs added.

The EU also noted that illegal logging had a ‘devastating’ impact on forests across the world, adding that the development prompted the EU to develop a series of measures in 2003 that spelt out appropriate trade activity in forest products.

Cameroon is a main timber exporter in the Congo Basin. It exports near about 80 percent of its timber product to the European economic zone.