OCA Global has been contracted under the EuropeAid/137659/IH/SER/LR project to support Liberia in strengthening forest sector governance and law enforcement by supporting the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA).
Specifically, OCA Global's objective through this contract is to assess the efficiency of the FLEGT licensing system and the effectiveness of the Legality Assurance System (LAS), and to enhance the credibility of the LAS within the VPA.
This project is part of the implementation of the FLEGT VPA in force between the EU and the Government of Liberia. The forestry sector is of great importance in this country as it contributes to sustainable socio-economic development, poverty reduction and economic growth. For this reason, OCA Global is working on the methodology and procedures for an independent audit of the Liberian VPA; and for the fair understanding of the independent auditor's work by Liberian civil society, the private sector and government agencies.
This past month, our team has completed and delivered the fifth and final major audit.
The final LAS audit assures operators and authorities that the FLEGT licenses issued are in compliance with the commitments made under the VPA. These commitments, together with national legislation, constitute the audit criteria against which the audit evidence will be compared to form the audit conclusions, which will indicate compliance or non-compliance (ISO 19011 for management system auditing).