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4.56. The EPA project also includes provisions on forest governance and trade in forest products from Central Africa, particularly the possibility of improving openings for trade on the EU market for wood and forest products from sustainable exploitations and legally originating in Central Africa. Cameroon takes part in the "Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT)" action plan, but by March 2013 it had not yet started to issue such authorizations. MINFOF hopes that the first FLEGT authorizations can be issued in 2014, which would facilitate exports of forest products to the EU.

4.57. In 1994-1995, Cameroon was one of the first countries in Africa to introduce an auction open to all for granting forestry licences. To ensure transparency, an external institution was selected to observe the auction procedure. This reduced illegal felling, corruption and over exploitation of resources. At present, a forestry licence has to be obtained for felling and exploitation of forests, and can only be granted to natural or legal persons resident in Cameroon, authorized by MINFOF to exercise the profession of forestry operator.

4.60. Some 100 companies are registered as exporters of forest products from the port of Douala, a large number of which are foreign companies. The principal exports are sawn timber, followed by veneer sheets (12%) and unprocessed wood in the form of logs (6%). The Law's goal was a gradual ban on exporting logs of traditional species from June 1999 onwards. As shown in Chart 4.4, however, the measure only had a limited impact.

4.62. (...), in June 2012, for example, the Government concluded a mining sector capacity-building project (PRECASEM) with the World Bank in order to "improve the efficiency and transparency of mining sector management and the frameworks for sustainable mining development".

4.3. The development programme for the energy subsector includes projects for achieving the specific objectives set out above. In particular, it is worth mentioning the ongoing construction of the Lom Pangar, Memve'ele and Mekin dams, the Yassa thermal power station and the Kribi gas fired power station.

4.86. Cameroon's hydroelectric capacity is still quite insufficient, despite enormous hydroelectric potential, estimated to be 20,000 megawatts (MW).

4.116. The approved selling price of around CFAF 99,000/tonne appears to be roughly the same as that of imported cement. The raw materials used by CIMENCAM are pozzolan and clinker, the former extracted from Cameroon's subsoil. In 2012, the local population complained that the company was not complying with environmental criteria.

4.4.4 Tourism services
4.167. In preparing this report, little information was furnished concerning Cameroon's trade policy in this sector. Cameroon has considerable tourism potential because of its natural and cultural assets, but these are largely unexploited, even though the GESP highlights tourism as a factor for growth. Despite this potential, tourism's contribution to the country's development and, as a knock-on effect, on combating poverty, remains marginal. The constraints which explain the performance of Cameroon's tourism have barely changed over the past seven years, and include the lack of promotional and information efforts, little investment in the sector, and insufficient expertise in the realm of tourism.

With regard to sustainable development: (i) strengthening the legal framework through the formulation of a sustainable development strategy; and (ii) setting up of a National SustainableDevelopment Commission.

Principal trade-related laws and regulations of the Congo, March 2013
Field / Instrument or Text
Forestry / Law No. 03 91 of 23 April 1991 on environmental protection; Law No. 48 83 of 21 April 1983 determining the conditions for the conservation and exploitation of wild fauna
Fisheries / Law No. 3 2010 of 14 June on the organization of coastal fishing and aquaculture; Decree No. 2012 174 of 12 March 2012 on the status of observer on board a fishing vessel; Decree No. 2011 319 of 26 April 2011 establishing the procedures for the conduct of technical visits to fishing vessels in waters under Congolese jurisdiction; Decree No. 2011 317 of 26 April 2011 laying down the conditions for the pursuit of professional small scale marine fishing;