Other indicators for legal timber trade of Liberia

Bans & quota

There are no logging or export bans or quotas in place in Liberia.

CITES and protected species

CITES Notification No. 2018/012 maintains a recommendation to suspend commercial trade with Liberia in specimens of CITES-listed species until further notice for failure by Liberia to adopt appropriate legislative measures to implement the Convention.

There are no CITES-listed tree species in Appendix I and Appendix III for Liberia.

The following flora species from Liberia are listed on CITES Appendix II, though not necessarily tree species (196 species in total):

• Cyathea camerooniana
• Pterocarpus erinaceusk.a. African rosewood, or kosso
• Dalbergia spp.
• Euphorbia prostrata
• A large number of species belonging to the orchidacea family.

National action on timber legality

During Liberia’s prolonged civil war (1989-2003), timber revenues were misappropriated and used to sustain the conflict. In 2003 the United Nations (UN) Security Council imposed sanctions (embargo) on all imports of timber from Liberia. Since then, Liberia has made significant efforts to reform the forest sector including completing a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework, developing a national timber traceability system (SGS LiberFor, now LiberTrace) to track timber production and revenue payments, and reforming the FDA. In 2006, the UN Security Council lifted the sanctions to recognise Liberia’s progress and to open the way for Liberia to rebuild its forest sector.

In support of the forest reform process, Liberia and the EU entered into negotiations for a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the EU FLEGT Action Plan in March 2009. The VPA was signed in July 2011, and ratified in December 2013. In 2013, SGS was hired to further develop the CoC system and the rest of the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) specified in the VPA. As part of the LAS, the COCS ensures traceability from the standing tree to the point of export and provides evidence to support the issuance of Export permits for timber coming from FMCs, TSCs and CFMAs.