# Timber Utilisation Permits

## Definition

- Off-reserve, naturally ocurring trees used for social or community purposes are subject to Timber Utilisation Permits (TUPs)

- The Minister responsible for land and natural resources, upon recommendation by the Forestry Commission, makes regulations on the conditions for harvesting trees for domestic or social purposes.

## Requirements for TUPs under domestic law

### Legal type of permit if...

Ghanaian legislation permits the harvesting of trees for social or community purposes. Timber harvested under a TUP cannot be sold or exchanged. Regulation 35 of LI 1649 details the relatively easy procedure for the issuance of TUPs:

Area of land not subjected to TUCs
District Assembly / Town committee / Any rural community group / Nongovernmental organisation file an application for a TUP
Chief conservator of Forest issues a TUP

Relevant pieces of domestic legislation

- Timber Resources Management Act (Act 547), 1998 - as amended in 2002 (Act 617)
- Timber Resources Management Regulation (LI 1649), 1998
- Timber Resources Management Regulation (Amendment) (LI 1721), 2003

## Voluntary Partnernship Agreement (VPA)

### Illegal type of permit

The Voluntary Partnership Agreement negotiated between the European Union and Ghana defines what legally produced timber is. The definition sets out Ghana's legislation that must be complied with in order for timber products to be covered by FLEGT licenses. The definition limits legal sources of timber to TUCs, Salvage Permits and Certificates of Purchase.

TUPs have not been included amongst the legal sources of wood and therefore cannot be considered as a legal source of timber.

## European Timber Regulation (EUTR)

### Illegal type of permit

Under the EUTR, operators have a due diligence obligation (Articles 4-6) to assess the risk of the timber and timber products they place on the EU market containing illegally harvested timber. Amongst other things, the due diligence obligation requires information/documentation to prove that the felling permit is legally recognised by Ghanaian law.

TUPs being designed for social and community purposes are not intended for commercial purposes and should therefore not be place on the market.