Other indicators for legal timber trade of the Republic of the Congo

Third party certification

In Congo, several forest concessions are certified by third-party legality or sustainable management certification schemes. To date, 3,241,061 hectares are covered by an FSC FM certificate, taking into account the recent certificate obtained by CIB in March 2020. On 6 October 2020, the Republic of Congo announced the publication of its revised FSC National Forest Management Standard (NFSS). The standard will apply to specific management units as those described in section 2.2 of the standard's scope, operating in natural forests and/or plantations.

Also, it should be noted that since 2014 the Republic of Congo has decided to set up a national forest certification system (PAFC-Congo) following the example of the African forest certification system, the Pan African Forest Certification (PAFC). As a result, Congo is opting for dual forest certification. The PAFC-Congo will be endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification standards (PEFC), which allows the PAFC to benefit from international recognition.

Finally, the new forestry code (Law 33-2020) imposes legality or sustainable management certification in its Article 72.

Private certification of sustainable management 

• FSC
• PAFC (PEFC)

Private certification of legality+

• OLB (BV)
• LS (Nepcon)
• TLV (CU)