Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.12 |
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2013 |
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Agriculture |
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4.12. This new policy includes a component devoted to reform of the land tenure regime. According to the authorities, this will replace the system of State land concessions currently given to foreign investors for a specified period. These concession contracts are signed with MINDAF. At present, they provide for renting land under a lease (sections 2.4 and 4.1.2.3), which is the only way for foreigners to gain access to land for farming. The need for foreign investors to respect the environmental and social provisions in Cameroon's legislation has been emphasized.
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.27 |
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2013 |
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Agriculture |
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4.1.2.3 Palm oil
4.27. Cameroon is currently still a net importer of palm oil. This could soon change: according to the NGO Oakland Institute, in 2009 the American firm Herakles signed a 99-year leasing agreement with the Cameroonian Government for 70,000 hectares of land in the South-West in order to grow palms and produce unrefined and refined palm oil. Several environmental groups have protested about this project, considering that the Government is not respecting the social and environmental criteria provided by law in this project, in particular, consultation of the communities concerned and obtaining their agreement, protection of forested zones with high conservation value, integration of small planters and producers into these intensive farming projects or securitization of land tenure.
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Environment
Forest
Conservation
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.48 |
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2013 |
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Fisheries |
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4.48. MINEPIA defines and implements government policy on fishing and fish farming. (...). Any (natural or legal) person wishing to exploit fisheries resources industrially must obtain a licence issued by MINEPIA. Foreign vessels may only obtain such a licence and engage in fishing if an agreement has been signed between their country and Cameroon. Cameroon has signed such an agreement with Senegal, but it is not implemented.
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.1 |
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2013 |
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Forestry |
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4.1. (...)As the FAO has identified, Cameroon's forests harbour numerous nuts, edible mushrooms and fruit, as well as herbs, spices and condiments, aromatic plants, fibre used for building, furniture, clothing or utensils, resins, gums and other plant products. Iboga, for example, looks promising for combating drug abuse ; prunus Africana (also called Pygeum or Kirah), a wood exported for the equivalent of over EUR 1 billion annually, has properties to combat prostate hyperplasia. The unexploited potential is vast.
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.53 |
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2013 |
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Forestry |
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4.53. The Ministry of Forests and Fauna (MINFOF) is the government institution responsible for the forestry sector. The 1994 Forestry, Fauna and Fisheries Law still governs, inter alia, the granting of logging rights, royalties and taxes on forestry activities, and the regime for the export of forest products. The other legal texts defining criteria for forestry sector activities concern, among other things, environmental protection and sustainable forest management. The former National Forestry Development Office (ONADEF) was reorganized and became the National Forest Development Agency (ANAFOR), which is responsible for providing support to individuals and communities for creating forest plantations.
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Forest
Fish
Environment
Sustainable
Wildlife
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.54 |
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2013 |
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Forestry |
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4.54. Aware of the serious degradation of its forest assets, as well as the fauna living there, through its Ministry of the Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, since January 2011 Cameroon has been participating in the project Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), whose implementation is planned between January 2013 and December 2015. This project comprises a regional dimension involving the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), which is the umbrella institution for the Congo Basin forests. The objective of the Organization for the Conservation of Wild Fauna in Africa (OCFSA) is to protect fauna and combat poaching. Both are based in Yaoundé and suffer from the lack of regular contributions by their members.
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Forest
Environment
Sustainable
Emissions
Conservation
Wildlife
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.55 |
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2013 |
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Forestry |
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4.55. According to the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), which brings together World Bank officials and outside consultants, the multilateral assistance given to the forestry sector in various countries in the region since 2002 has enabled millions of hectares of threatened forest to be classified as protected areas. In Cameroon, however, external assistance has mainly focused on the management of large export-oriented concessions, while the volume of wood produced by the informal sector has multiplied tenfold and is today equivalent to that of the large concessions, thereby contributing to deforestation and concealed financial chains.
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-II§2.30 |
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2013 |
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Forestry |
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2.3.2 Relations with the European Union (EU)
2.23. (...) In replacement of the trade provisions in the Cotonou Agreement (common report, section 2), on 25 January 2009 Cameroon signed with the EU an "Interim Agreement with a view to an Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Central Africa party, of the other part" (EPA), the Central Africa party comprising Cameroon alone. (...)
2.30. (…). The EPA also includes provisions on forestry governance (section 4.1.4).
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.56 |
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2013 |
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Forestry |
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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.
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Secretariat TPR |
WT/TPR/S/285/REV.1 |
S-IV§4.57 |
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2013 |
Sectors |
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Forestry |
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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.
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