GMSA condemns UK ‘ban’ on Guyana’s greenheart exports

– calls for urgent review of “unfair decision”

The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) has lambasted as “unfair” and in need of urgent

review, a decision by the United Kingdom which essentially restricts the import of greenheart from Guyana.

Moreover, the GMSA said the labelling of Guyana as a “pariah” in tropical forestry flew in the face of overwhelming independently verified evidence by internationally credible third parties – evidence which is available online and specifically on the Guyana Forestry Commission’s website “for those who wish to be further informed on the hard reality”.

The GMSA, in a strongly-worded missive over the weekend, said the “UK agency essentially pronounced on the sustainability of forest management practices in our forests of origin with absolutely no communication or consultation with any local industry stakeholders”.

It was pointed out by the GMSA that given that the markets for tropical forest products were declining and proving challenging: “Incorrect labelling of our forest management practices in this negative way can only be detrimental to the future lives and livelihoods of the 25,000 people directly employed in this industry.”

The GMSA maintains too that available statistics highlight the great efforts that both the industry and the Government have made to ensure “sustainable forest management of our forests for our future generations and that in an ecological sense, our forests are being sustainably managed, an effort clearly verified through abundant, independent, third-party analysis and certification” .

It was noted that this was especially so for “our hardworking colleagues in rural and indigenous communities, who, over time, have come to appreciate and see the value of understanding and implementing the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) guidelines which they helped to formulate”.

The GMSA, in its missive, drew reference to the May 2015 UK Environment Agency Technical Note, on the sourcing of new supplies of greenheart timber, which “did come as a great surprise to the local industry, especially since the Private Sector and Government were in communication with CPET (The Central Point for Expertise on Timber that advised UK Government Agencies on Timber Procurement Policies) for over four years previous to the Note to provide evidence of legality and sustainable timber practices” .

According to the Association, as a result of the increasing global need to prove legality and sustainability, and meet certification standards, the industry had already entered into negotiations under the EU-FLEGT programme to ensure that the local forest sector would meet these guidelines and import regulations for the UK and EU markets.

While the consultants to CPET did state that EU-FLEGT licensing would constitute adequate evidence of Category B compliance, the GMSA is adamant that the UK agency issued the Technical Note with no communication or consultation with local stakeholders.

The GMSA also drew reference to recent pronouncements by local forestry expert Dr Janette Bulkan, who had pronounced on the sustainability of greenheart forest harvesting by referring to the studies carried out by Tropenbos in the Bartica Triangle.

It was quick to point out, however, that, “the UK Environment Agency Technical Note refers to the sustainable forest management of the forests of origin and not only greenheart”.

In December 2015, the consultants to CPET clarified that the submissions by the Guyanese industry did not meet the requirements for Category B certification, as it pertained to issues such as “adequate multi-stakeholder consultation locally in the development of the Codes of Practice, forest policy and plans and regulation”, according to the GMSA.

“They never even got to the point of reviewing actual harvesting rates and practices on the ground – therefore the reference to the Bartica Triangle Study as the reasons for the Technical Note is incorrect in more ways than one.”

Pointing to some of the verification practices obtained locally, the GMSA said “our forest management system is subject to regular independent forest monitoring; in addition to Guyana welcoming this, it is also a requirement of the agreement with the Kingdom of Norway.”

It was highlighted that Guyana would not have received any funding for avoided deforestation from Norway under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) if our forest regulatory environment was considered as “pariah”.

Guyana has the third lowest deforestation rate in the world and, according to data released for 2015, forest operations only contribute one per cent of the total annual deforestation in Guyana.