New log policy to allow sawmillers to export logs from today

Oct 12, 2020 News

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) has announced a new log policy which states that sawmillers, as well as concession holders and timber dealers, will be allowed to export logs- effective as of today.

The Guyana Forestry Commission headquarters in Kingston, Georgetown.

Previously, the National Log Export policy only provided for concession holders being allowed to export logs from Guyana. The concessionaires were allowed to export logs that had to originate from the concessions they were allocated.
The idea was to push for more local processing.
The lifting of the restrictions came from the new government and was announced in the recent emergency budget as part of the measures to jumpstart the economy.
According to the commission, these forest operators now being allowed to export logs must have an export value of at least $10M Guyana dollars cumulatively over the last three years- as assessed by the GFC.
They are also required to be in good standing with the commission- meaning that they must have complied with all of the GFC’s explicit obligations, with no history of being subjected to any form of sanction, suspension, or disciplinary censure by the GFC.
According to GFC, prospective operators will be required to have their place of operation approved by the Commission and it was also stated that new operators can be eligible for exports as soon as forest product exports reach $10M Guyana dollars over a period of one to three years.
Further, the commission advised that all legal requirements are to be strictly followed and all revenues owed to the GFC in terms of royalties for production and export levies must be paid before export.
An annual license fee of US$500 is required for the granting of the log export license, but only for persons who have met all requirements for the license. There is an exception made for concession holders since they will be exporting logs from their own concessions.
The GFC noted that export levies will be computed on the higher of either the invoice or the free on the board (FOB) value of logs and squares. The prices of all products for export will be verified against the Forest Products Development and Marketing Council Guyana Inc. (FPDMC) / GFC Price Advisory which is informed by the average international market prices to guide prices on exports.
Special consideration may be given to companies or entities that are exporting squares, which are products with dimensions of 30.48cm by 30.48cm or 12 inches by 12 inches, which are used without any further processing and are for verified engineering purposes.
The GFC stated that the new policy comes as part of budget measures for 2020, noting that its modification will not affect the sustainable management of Guyana’s forests since all harvesting, extraction, and exports have to comply with the GFC.

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