Government has pledged to sign a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU) as part of its Forest Policy implementation for the prevention of deforestation.
Guyana’s commitment to sign the agreement in the latter part of 2016, comes in the wake of its Forest Policy implementation, after it would have formally entered into the negotiation process with the European Union for a VPA in December 2012.
The VPA is a key element of the EU’s Forest Law and Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan and a VPA with the EU would facilitate increased market access for Guyana’s timber into the lucrative EU market. “The FLEGT VPA process also provides an opportunity for Guyana to further strengthen and mainstream its consultation and engagement process to enhance forest governance, improve legal compliance and build in-country capacity for community engagement in forest policy development and implementation,” a joint press statement from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the European Union said. Further, the agreement is expected to govern trade in timber between Guyana and the 28 member states of the EU.
As part of agreement process, the EU and Guyana successfully concluded the third negotiation session on Thursday. Guyana was represented at this session by the National Technical Working Group – a multi-stakeholder group comprising representatives of the private sector, indigenous bodies and government agencies selected through a participatory process.
At this session, the parties committed to maintaining the momentum to reach an agreement that considers the views of all relevant stakeholders. The parties also committed to further promoting the identification of synergies amongst FLEGT, Reduction of Emissions from deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) and the Low Carbon Development Strategy processes. They also agreed to continue examining the framework under which these initiatives can be further integrated and be mutually supportive.
Both parties acknowledged that progress has been made since the last negotiation session and during this season, including the revision of the joint roadmap. It was agreed that the next session will be held in Brussels in November.
