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Guyana mulls options for regaining UK’s Greenheart market -Environmental Minister likely to visit
Companies wanting to export Greenheart timber to the United Kingdom will have to examine certification before being allowed.
It will be recalled that in 2015, the UK’s Environmental Agency (EA) slapped restrictions on Guyana’s Greenheart, a timber that is highly popular in especially marine applications.
The loss of the UK market was a hard blow to local producers, although two companies reportedly were allowed to sell after acquiring certification.
EA said it had not seen enough evidence that the timber was coming from legal sources.
However, local authorities in Guyana, including the Forestry Commission, insisted that this was unfair since strict procedures exist.
The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) was part of a team including forestry officials who went to the UK between November 19 and 21st, to lobby for a lifting of the restrictions.
GMSA was represented the Forestry Sub-Sector chair, Rafeek Khan while Andrew Mendes, a member of the association was also present.
Part of the Guyanese delegation with UK officials inspecting a marine project.
According to the association, the mission commenced with a visit to Shoreham Port where the team was hosted by the Director of Shoreham Port, Tony Parker.
“Shoreham Port has been a great advocate for greenheart over the last decade and has been impressed with the standard of Guyana’s forestry practices. This has facilitated the specialized use of greenheart through the Shoreham Port Facility. The Guyana team was informed about the major advantages of using greenheart above stone for sea defences and shown where greenheart is being used mainly as timber groynes to protect from beach erosion.”
The delegation also visited the home office of Mott MacDonald’s in Brighton.
Mott MacDonald’s is widely recognized as a leading consultant and engineer for infrastructure projects in Guyana.
Mott MacDonald’s representatives also lauded the sustainability of Guyana’s forest management approaches, GMSA said.
On Tuesday, November 20th, the team made a comprehensive presentation to UK Environmental Agency Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) addressing the issue of sustainability of greenheart.
According to the GMSA, it would require more time for the Environmental Agency (EA) to make a conclusion about the matter concerning the restriction of greenheart into the UK.
The EA has been allowing the entry of Greenheart only with third party certification such as Forest Stewardship Certification (FSC), which is limited presently to two companies in Guyana. However, GMSA said, the FSC is extremely expensive to attain and cost prohibitive to many stakeholders.
“In order to have a level playing field, other countries must comply with similar measures in order to sell timber into the UK. According to the EA representative, making an exception for non-FSC timber from Guyana will not be supportive to a level playing field approach.”
GFC’s Chairperson, Jocelyn Dow (far right) with her UK counterparts during the visit.
A representative from DEFRA and the Environmental Minister from the UK will be invited to Guyana in coming months, where they would be able to see Guyana’s forestry operations first hand.
The delegation was also invited for a meeting with Lord Deben at the House of Lords. Lord Deben who is the chair of the climate change committee, explained to the delegation about the importance of adhering to the requirements established by the EA.
“Lord Deben was quite pleased about the progress Guyana has made towards The European Union Forest Law, Enforcement, Governance and Trade (EU-FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which was recently signed in Brussels, Belgium on Nov 23rd.”
It was recommended by Lord Deben that Guyana can possibly have an independent model to represent its case to lift the restriction for non FSC.
However, according to the association, it is not hopeful at this juncture.
“The FLEGT process could take approximately 6 years to fully complete and while being a possibility solution, it is not guaranteed. In the meantime, the restriction remains in place and companies are encouraged to acquire acceptable certifications such as FSC in order to gain access into the UK market.”
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