NAMIBIA: LACEY ACT AMENDMENT DEMARCHE DELIVERED

UNCLAS WINDHOEK 000398 SENSITIVE SIPDIS PASS TO MARK JOHNSEN, OES/ENRC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV EAID EAGR ETRD EINV BTIO WA SUBJECT: NAMIBIA: LACEY ACT AMENDMENT DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 126654 ¶1. (SBU) Econoff delivered reftel demarche to members of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF),as well as the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). Director of Forestry J.S. Hailwa remarked that the new import declaration requirements under the amended Lacey Act should not impose significant problems for Namibian businesses that deal in wood and lumber products. Hailwa noted Namibia does not produce much of its own lumber for export purposes, but that it imports wood products from neighboring Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries and occasionally re-exports them. He added that his Ministry requires separate permits for harvesting, transporting, and exporting of forestry products. MAWF officials at border checkpoints ensure the provenance (and legality) of logged products, Hailwa stated. Renier Burger, the MAWF's Chief Agriculture Extension Officer, remarked that imported lumber also requires a phytosanitary certificate issued by his department. (Note: Burger and his colleague George Rhodes work closely with APHIS representatives in South Africa. End Note). Both Hailwa and Burger stressed that the information collected for all the permits and certificates required by the MAWF should allow exporters to easily complete the newly required Lacey Act import declaration documentation. ¶2. (SBU) MTI Chief Trade Promotion Officer Renette Smuts told econoff that she appreciated the USG's timely notification of the new requirement, remarking that many trading partners do not inform her office. Smuts quickly reviewed her export licensing ledger in econoff's presence and did not find any products that would require the new import declaration requirement. At Smuts' suggestion, econoff sent an information package on the new requirements to the Namibian Manufacturing Association (NMA). Econoff will follow-up with NMA in the coming week. MATHIEU