According to ITTO, producers in Gabon report that since April exports have been held up first by a strike by Customs Officers and recently by a series of other problems. The most recent problem has been that companies ready to stuff and seal containers have been unable to arrange inspections by Ministry of Forestry officials and Customs Agents as the courts have seized the official stamps used to confirm the inspection.
News circulating in trade circles is of the apparent 'misplacement' of a huge number of containers of kevazingo. Local analysts are at a loss to explain how so many containers could have gone missing.
On a brighter note the media in Gabon has reported that the management of the Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ) will, through a system named 'Tracer Nkok', implement timber tracking in order to ensure transparency in the flow of logs entering the Nkok economic zone.
Tracer Nkok aims to ensure that only logs that meet due diligence requirements enter the Nkok area. Tracer Nkok will also provide due diligence technical support for zone operators.
