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Timber Risk Assessment
List of applicable legislation
Risk Mitigation Guide
Document Guide
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Timber Risk Score: 22 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Central African Republic for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:

  • Specified risk for 18 sub-categories.
  • Low risk for 1 sub-categories.
  • No legal requirements for 2 sub-categories.

This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Forests cover 22.2 million hectares of CAR, or about 3 6% of the country, of which:

  • Primary forest is about about 2 million ha 
  • Non-primary forest is about 20 million ha
  • Plantations are a tiny proportion - they cover 2,000 ha.

The CAR government is the main custodian and owner of all national forests. Forests are divided into:

  • Permanent Forest Estates (PFE)
  • Non-Permanent Forest Estates (NPFE). NPFE are unclassified forests and may be destined for uses other than forestry. NPFEs have not been allocated to different uses yet. 

The forest sector is very important to the country, contributing around 4% of GDP and 40% of the country's export earnings. Timber is mainly exported to Europe, China and North America and within Africa to Cameroon and Chad.

CAR has major governance problems preventing it from effectively implementing its laws and eliminating illegal actions. These include lack of harmonisation and inconsistencies within and between relevant legal texts, the persisting conflict between the statutory and customary tenure regimes, lack of capacity, and political instability.

Several legality risks are present in CAR timber supply chains. The risks are wide-ranging and appear across all categories of law. If you are sourcing timber from CAR you should take care to ensure the extensive risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated.

Corruption Perceptions Index

Score: 24 / 100 in 2021

Rank: 154 out of 180 countries in 2021

 

Armed conflict

"Violence in eastern and western Central African Republic (CAR) has increased and spread to new provinces in 2018, as the government in Bangui remains unable to extend control outside the capital", cited from Global Conflict Tracker (2019).

According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program there were 11320 deaths from 2010-2019. 

 

Voluntary Partnership Agreement

VPA status: Implementing

 

CITES species

CITES appendix II: Dalbergia spp., Guibourtia demeusei, Pericopsis elata, Pterocarpus erinaceus 

 

Timber sources

  • Find out the different sources of legal timber
  • Determine which source type your timber comes from
Timber source type Description of source type

Concessions in Permanent Forest Estate (PFE)

Timber from concessions in production forests.

The following documents are required:

  • Forest Management Permit (Permis d’Exploitation et d’Aménagement - PEA) attributed by presidential decree after a bidding process.
  • Forest management plan approved by the forest administration
  • Five-year plan
  • Annual operating plan

Artisanal logging in Permanent Forest Estate (PFE)

Timber from artisanal logging.

The following documents are required:

  • an Artisanal Logging Permit, which can be allocated to nationals, companies or small timber producers
  • Specifications (Cahier de charges)
Community forest

Timber from community forests is a potential source of timber, but does currently not exist. 

Once brought into existence, the following documents will be required:

  • A management agreement
  • A simple management plan
Plantation forest

Timber from plantation forests. Most plantations come from private forests; some belong to the state.

The following documents are required:

  • A Land title
  • A Simple management plan
  • Specifications (cahier de charges)
  • Note that a harvesting permit is not required.

Risk assessment summary

Legal rights to harvest

Legal rights to harvest, EUTR
  • Risk of land use conflicts 
  • Risk of private plantation owners without land titles 
  • Risk of lack of prior consultation with the neighbouring population when issuing permits
  • Risk of illegal encroachment 
  • Risk of illegal artisanal logging carried out in the areas allocated under Forest Management Permit (Permis d’Exploitation et d’Aménagement – PEA) 
  • Risk that the allocation process is corrupt 
  • Risk of approval delay for the Annual Operation Plan, as well as the transition period after the logging inventory, leading to harvesting without a permit  
  • Risk that loggers do not respect the requirement to submit the Annual Operation Plan in November of each year 
  • Risk of non-compliance with the requirements and process concerning the call for tenders when issuing permits 
  • Risk of harvesting outside the boarders of the cutting areas
  • Risk of harvesting without approval 

Taxes and fees

Taxes and fees, EUTR
  • Risk of under-declaring volumes and and wrongly declaring species to avoid paying the full felling taxes

Timber harvesting activities

timber harvesting activities, EUTR
  • Risk that trees are harvested below the minimum diameter 
  • Risk that protected species are harvested 
  • Risk of illegal logging in protected areas 
  • Risk that Environmental Impact Assessments are lacking 
  • Risk that staff are rarely trained in relation to security and hygiene 
  • Risk that staff are not declared to the social security (CNSS) or health centres, even when they exist
  • Risk of that there are not enough qualified personnel or that they are not well equipped 
  • Risk of lack of access to personal protective equipment 

Third parties' rights

Third party rights, EUTR
  • Risk that the Commune does not redistribute taxes to communities, as required by law 
  • Risk that commitments to social work in the Annual Operation Plan are not implemented
  • Risk that the platform requested by the management plan to serve as a framework for consultation has not been implemented 

Trade and transport

Trade and transport, EUTR
  • Risk that transporters who do not have required documents bribe the road control agents at the barrier controls
  • Risk of fraud with CITES species, and a specific risk in recognizing the types of species protected by CITES

 

Specified risk species

Common/trade name Scientific name Risk information

Rosewood

Dalbergia spp.

CITES listed. CITES species are at risk of illegal harvest and trade
Bubinga, African Rosewood Guibourtia demeusei

CITES listed. CITES species are at risk of illegal harvest and trade

Padouk

Pterocarpus erinaceus

CITES listed. CITES species are at risk of illegal harvest and trade
Afrormosia, African teak Pericopsis elata

CITES listed. CITES species are at risk of illegal harvest and trade

 

Mitigate the risk in your supply chain

Learn which actions we recommended to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sources from the Central African Republic.

Mitigation recommendations

There are six recommended actions to mitigate the risks associated with timber sources from the Central African Republic:

1. Fully map your supply chain

2. Obtain and verify documents 

  • Forest level documents
    • A map of authorized cutting areas  that they can be compared with satellite images (for example, from Transparent Forest http://www.denisalder.net/fmt/ or Sarmap http://www.sarmap.ch/index.php
    • Applicable harvesting license
      • PEA allocation decree for concessions
      • Land title for the plantations
      • Logging authorisation 
    • Payment receipts for 3 years of rent (for the newly issued permits) to demonstrate the legality of the concession
    • Proof of payment of administrative fees, proof of payment of pre-recognized royalties, the NIF, the RCCM, a Consular attestation, the trader’s professional license; allocation report for the PEAs, and the report from the ‘Independent Observer’ (Obervateur Independent) under the responsibility of the MEDDEFCP. 
    • Certificate of environmental conformity
    • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
    • Five-year management plan approved by the forest administration 
    • Annual Operating Plan (PAO) for the year in question 
    • Validated provisional agreement for the companies whose management plan is being drafted (less than three years from the allocation decree for the PEA)
    • Authorisation to survey the perimeter, Survey report and Simple management plan
    • Document of call for proposals and written report of bidders’ selection
    • List of logging species recognized in the management plan
    • Special authorisation for the unauthorized species
    • Map of the area covered by the logging permit (PEA) or the plantation permit, and compare it to the map of protected areas
    • Ssurvey report or the species to be logged (in the case of plantations), logging inventory report (PEA)
    • The mission reports from ‘Independent observations’ (observations indépendantes) from NGOs, in order to confirm that there are no abandoned blocks of timber in the forests
    • Control mission’s report from the forest administration, confirming that the rules concerning protection are being upheld, that the report confirms the respect of conservation regulations in the areas where logging is forbidden and in PEAs such as ecologically fragile areas
  • Tax related documents
    • Proof (receipt) of payment by the supplier of royalties and harvesting rights, including the calculation of taxes depending on the species and volumes purchased
  • Health and safety documents
    • Written report of the meeting that created the Hygiene and Security Committee for businesses with more than 30 employees
    • Reports from the hygiene and security meetings
  • Employment related documents
    • Up-to-date contributions log from the National Social Security Fund (CNSS)
    • Registration certificate and payment discharge for the contributions issued by the CNSS and the ACFPE
    • Employer register numbered and initialed by the competent labor inspector
    • Information sheet on the guarantee of freedom and written report of the union meetings
    • Training certificate for the employees covered by the competent labor inspector
  • Documents related to third party’s rights
    • Report of forest allocation commission in which the representative of the local communities in question has participated
    • The prior community consultation report describing the procedures of consultation prior to the issuing of a logging license
  • Trade and transport documents
    • Work site books
    • “Timber movements” (Mouvements de bois)
    • List of protected species
    • Roadmap or Car letter
    • Shipping voucher accompanied by: Specifications, D15, Commercial Export Declaration, Invoice, Certificate of Origin.  
    • The species enrolled on the delivery or evacuation slips 
    • Valid commercial permit
    • Receipt of payment of existing rights and taxes
    • CITES list of protected species
    • Export permits and certificates
       

3. Consult with stakeholders

  • Stakeholders detect whether the land in questions is subject to conflicting claims to ownership
  • Stakeholders confirm that customary rights are observed during harvesting activities
     

4. Carry out on-site verification

  • Confirm that harvesting is conducted within the authorised boundaries of the FMU.
  • Confirm that harvesting does not take place in areas where harvesting is legally prohibited
  • Confirm that tree species or selected trees found within the FMU for which felling is prohibited are listed in operational plans and marked in the field
  • Confirm that harvesting restrictions are observed in the field

5. Conduct targeted timber testing

  • Conduct timber testing on samples of purchasd material to verify the species or origin of timber, where appropriate

6. Avoid / do not buy

  • Avoid buying Pericopsis elata and Pterocarpus erinaceus coming from CAR
Profile Publication Date
2017-06-19