Regulation amending section I,II, and III of the Regulation on export of logs and processed wood (FDA Regulation No. 15)

FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULATION NO. 15 REGULATION AMENDING SECTION I,ll, & III OF REGULATION NO. 14 WHEREAS, upon publication of Regulation No. 14 on "EXPORT OF LOGS AND PROCESSED WOOD", the Liberian Timber Association (LTA) submitted a Technical report regarding the implementation of the said Regulation No. 14, which said report details several constraints in the Timber Industry vis-a-vis the nation's infrastructural development - road con dition, lack of adequate warehouses for processed wood at the various ports coupled with inadequate equipment at the nation's ports to handle processed wood; and WHEREAS, upon receipt of the said report from the Liberian timber Association (LTA), the FDA, in consonance with the Government's policy to promote and protect investment in the forestry sector, held further consul tations, dialogue and discussions on relevant issues pertinent to the implementation of Regulation No. 14 with all interested parties including Timber Producers, Exporters of Forest Products, Forestry Experts, Importers of Forest Products, Shippers and the Management of the National Port Authority with a view to ensure the continued via bility of the Timber Industry; and WHEREAS, during these consultations, dialogue and discussions cer tain 1imi tations which exist in such basic infrastructure as port facili ties and roads, and other other constraints in the industry lack of credit facilities and non-availability of essential machinery and equipment locally, were emphasized, all of which affect the indus try; and WHEREAS, the Liberian Timber Association, in their report mentioned supra appealed to the Management of the FDA to reconsider certain pro visions of the saidl Regulation No. 14 relative to the Export quota on logs and processed wood. with a 'lie~ to -reduce t.he required twenty percent (20%) quota of the processed wood component of an export log parcel which would become effective on March 1st, 1988, and to treat the twenty percent (20%) quota as a programmed tarqet to be achieved gradually over a period of eight to ten years; and WHEREAS, the FDA has carefully reviewed the appeal of the Liberian Timber Association as contained in the said Technical report, and recognizing the need to ensure the continued survival and sustained qrowth of the forestry sector, the Authority has deCided to amend spe cific provisions of Regulation No. 14 namely Sections I,ll and III; and NOW, THEREFORE, the Forestry Development Authority does hereby rule and regulate: SECTION I. DEFINITIONS: In this Regulation the following words shall have the meaning indi cated unless the context otherwise requires; 53 Processed Wood: Wood products which have undergone processing other than logs, such as boules, sawn timber, plywood, veneer, funiture parts, particles board, wooden parquetry, etc; SECTION II. EXPORT QUOTA ON LOGS AND PROCESSED WOOD: Producers and/or Exporters of Forest Products from the Republ ic of Liberia sha 11 be required to export processed wood as a component of their export parcel in the following manner: (a) Effective March 1, 1988 and up to Febr-uary 29, 1990, all Timber Producers and/or Exporters shall be required to export a minimum of ten percent (10%) of their Export of log parcel in processed wood; (b) Effect I ve March 1, 1990 and up Lo Februar'y 28, 1993. a 11 Timber Producers and/or Exporters shall b~ required to export a minimu. of fifteen percent (15%) of their export log parcel in pr'ooes sod wood; (c) Effective March 1, 1993 all Timber Producers and/or' Exporters shall be required to export a minimum of twenty po r oen t. (7.0%) of their export log parcel in processed wood; (d ) Boules: From March 1, 1988 to February 29, 1990, Bou l e s shall be counted as component of the minimum required Len percent. (10%) in processed wood, provided that such bou l e s component. does not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the total ten per cent (10%) in processed wood. Effective March 1. 1990. o x po r t. of boules shall not be counted as a componon t of the C"onU'o! processed wood export parcel. S~CTION III. ISSUANCE OF EXPORT PERMIT: The Forestry Development Authority shall not issue .Expor t Permi t, to any Producer/Exporter of forest products who fa i 1s to comp 1y with the reqUired minimum percentages of export quota of processed wood as stated in Section II above. Export Permit for the export of logs and processed wood sha 11 be issued by the Forestry Development Authori ty only after prior receipts, and due r-ecord Lnc by the Managing Director' of the FDA or his des Lqria t.e of the spec I fications of the logs and pro" cessed wood to be exported. The Managing Director or his designate shall refuse to issue the Export Permit if he is not satisfied that. the Exporter has produced the required minimum percentages of processed wood as stated in Section II above. SECTION IV. EFFECTIVE DATE: This Regulation which amends Sections I. II and III of Regulation No. 14 shall take effect September 22, 1987 and shall be announced in the public media and be published in the "FDA Newsletter". CSgd. ) Shad G. Kaydea MANAGING DIRECTOR FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MONROVIA, LIBERIA SEPTEMBER 18, 1987 54