New guide for legal timber tradebetween Central African rainforest and the EU

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New guide for legal timber trade between Central African rainforest and the EU

Published 4 July 2025

A practical guide presents step-by-step information to help timber importers and exporters along the Cameroon to EU supply chain comply with major new deforestation regulations.

Specifically, the guide refers to trade of timber within requirements of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). It was developed as a tool for EUTR authorities in the EU overseeing incoming timber.

While the guide focusses on the legal framework applicable to the Cameroon forestry sector exporting to EU, it is also relevant for export to other markets.

Moreover, Cameroon is a transit hub for timber from other Central African countries. Therefore TRAFFIC has developed detailed Timber National Legality Frameworks (for CAR, Congo, Gabon, DRC, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea) to help verify the legality of timber and timber products from these countries exported to EU and other markets.  

New guide for legal timber trade between Central African rainforest and the EU

Report author(s):
Patrice Kamkuimo, Justine Guiny, Justin Kamga, Angeline Modjo

Publication date:
July 2025

Download report (7.0 MB pdf)

key findings

Helpful summaries for different users:

Summary for Timber Traders in Cameroon: Steps to Provide Legal Timber to the EU Market

Summary for EU Timber Importers: Ensuring Legal Imports from Cameroon

Full guide in French

Global timber trade is worth around $230bn annually. It is essential for humans to survive and thrive. Handled well, timber trade can provide critical resources, support national and local economies, and protect complex ecosystems on which we all depend.

However, it is estimated that 15-30% of global timber trade is illegal and unsustainable. It is driven by global organised criminal networks making vast profits, it robs nations and communities of income, and it destroys precious ecosystems, even driving species to extinction.

Around the world, major steps are being taken to establish transparent timber supply chains, giving assurance to everyone involved that the timber is both legal and sustainable.

One example is the impending European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) which is due to go live in December 2025. It aims to kickstart sustainable and legal timber trade globally by preventing products which have contributed to deforestation entering or leaving the EU. It applies to wood, rubber, palm oil, soy, beef, coffee and cacao. The EUDR will obviously repeal the current European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), as regards the wood commodity (timber and timber products).

As with much legislation, the EUTR/EUDR can appear complex. To aid compliance, TRAFFIC has produced a step-by-step Guide for traders involved in the very significant timber trade route from Cameroon in the Congo Basin to the European Union.

The Guide is for both for EU importers, but also for exporters and traders in Cameroon – to help everyone comply with the specific regulations of this route, preventing deforestation and build a nature-positive future.

For EU importers: if you are involved in buying or importing timber into the EU, you can access a summary of the Guide here

For Cameroon exporters: if you are involved in selling or exporting timber to the EU, you can access a summary of the Guide here

Cameroon has 21.5 million

million hectares of dense rainforests, which make up 46% of its national territory

6%

of Cameroon’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the forestry sector, highlighting its economic importance.

0.27%

was the annual deforestation rate in Cameroon between 2010 and 2020, according to the FAO, indicating persistent pressure from illegal logging and forest degradation.

About Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI):

NICFI supports efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries through efforts to improve forest and land management in tropical forest countries and reduce the pressure on tropical forests from global markets.