ISSUE 5: HELPING LIBERIA ESCAPE CONFLICT TIMBER
English version
By K. Canby. Chinese translation by X. Sun View PublicationIn 2003, the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on the international trade of round logs and timber products originating in
Liberia in an effort to eliminate conflict timber used to fund the civil war that raged in Liberia. UN sanctions put an end to this trade in 2003;
however, on June 20 2006, the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favor of lifting the timber sanctions be lifted. For Liberia’s part,
their legislature must pass a new forestry law within 90 days, or else the ban will be reinstated. However, the international community also has
a crucial role to play in helping Liberia overcome its troubled recent history. Countries such as Europe and China, historically important to
Liberia’s forest products trade, have the opportunity to provide leadership through trade and procurement programs to complement the
domestic reforms that Liberia must now implement. (Also available in Chinese.)
