douanes.ga

Lee White, Minister of Water and Forests, the Sea, the Environment, in charge of the Climate Plan, and the Land Allocation Plan, accompanied by his Minister Delegate, Charles Mve Ellah, and officials from the forestry and customs administrations, launched the pilot phase of the computerized wood traceability system called "Minef" on March 27.    

"The first pilot test phase, focused on the potting and transport modules, was carried out within the Owendo forest products control brigade, in particular those of the potting sites of the operator Gabon Best Natural Source (GBNS) and the National Wood Company of Gabon (SNBG). Training will be provided to forestry administration staff and pre-identified economic operators for two months. Once the modules have been tested, improved and the architecture of the application finalized, the traceability system will be officially launched by January 2022," explains the Forestry and Timber Sector Activities Execution Agency (Aeaffb). 

This system of traceability of wood products, says the Aeaffb, will allow the forestry, customs and tax authorities to have reliable data on the routing of these, in real time, from the forest to their destination (port of export or processing plant). This will allow the extraction of details at all stages of the operation of the system with labels and barcodes (inventory of exploitation; felling; logbook, transport, processing, potting ...) using powerful mobile technologies. 

Finally, the implementation of a nationwide wood product traceability system will help combat the illegal exploitation of forest resources and ensure that Gabonese wood products are legal, environmentally friendly, and contribute more significantly to economic growth and job creation.

Representing 60% of GDP (excluding hydrocarbons), the forestry sector is one of the pillars of Gabon's economy, with nearly 80% of the country covered by forest. The said sector is the second largest provider of jobs in the country with 10,000 positions, behind only the civil service.

Source : leNouveauGabon. Sylvain Andzongo