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Table 3.5 Import controls and restrictions, 2020

Product - Ivory; Responsible body/measure - Ministry of Trade; Section of the report/legislative text - Ordinances No. 85.005 of 30 January 1985 ending the right to hunt elephants and No. 85.046 of 31 October 1985 banning the collection and trading of ivory in the Central African Republic Interministerial Order No. 072 of 3 February 2004;

Product - Live animals, trophies and protected species; Responsible body/measure - Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (veterinary service); Section of the report/legislative text - Section 3.2.2 and CITES

3.48. The Central African Republic states that the country complies with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Ministry of Water, Forestry, Hunting and Fishing issues CITES export permits for all legally obtained animal trophies and bubinga wood.

3.56. CAR is a party to several multilateral treaties on environmental protection. Their implementation remains a challenge. [49]
[49] Information viewed at: https://www.informea.org/fr/node/44/parties.

4.41. The Ministry of the Environment, Sustainable Development, Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing has as its declared ambition to encourage investment, including from abroad, in the CAR fisheries sector, particularly in the Oubangui and Sangha basins.

4.48. The 2008 Forestry Code refers to sustainable forest management in the context of development plans, in accordance with the 2005 Treaty on the conservation and sustainable management of Central African forest ecosystems, which established the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC). Accordingly, Customs collects a "COMIFAC levy" of 0.1% on all merchandise imports (Section 3.1.4.2). In 2012, this tax totalled CFAF 62 million (EUR 94,500).

4.49. The sector is supervised by the Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing, which has a website. The Ministry manages the tendering procedure for management and operating permits (PEAs), which are issued by decree to forestry companies; their areas of concession and the conditions for exploiting them are laid down by the PEAs. Approved companies are required to prepare and abide by a management plan included in the conservation, protection and management plan for the State's forests. (...)

4.52. In 2011, CAR signed the bilateral Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the EU (FLEGT VPA) to provide secure access to European markets for its forestry production. The purpose of this process is to improve forestry governance and ensure that wood imported into the EU meets all regulatory requirements. Its objectives are to contribute to the fight against illegal logging and improve forest resource management. In January 2020, 20 Central African enterprises were approved under the FLEGT VPA. A financing agreement signed in 2012 with the EU in the amount of EUR 6.7 million for support to implement the VPA

4.53. The World Bank also launched a Natural Resource Governance Project in CAR, of which the forestry sector could be one of the main beneficiaries.

4.54. The Sustainable Forest Resources Management Agency (AGDRF) monitors implementation of management plans and oversees exploitation activities.

4.57. The areas under PEAs are subject to a leasing tax (CFAF 500/ha of useful area under the PEA), felling tax (7% of the reference price per m3 felled) and a reforestation tax (11% of the reference price per exported m3 of all species).