Macau, China, Sept. 22, 2026 (Lusa) - Maputo wants to review a memorandum of understanding on the forestry sector signed with Beijing, as part of efforts to combat timber smuggling, Mozambique's National Director of Forests and Wildlife told Lusa on Tuesday.
«We are reviewing the memorandum [of understanding] with a view to signing, it is a memorandum that brings things into line with current practices, based on what we have been observing, and we believe that, if the Chinese side agrees to the principles we are putting forward, we will sign it», Imede Chafim Falume explained to Lusa on the sidelines of the 2026 Global Forum on Legal and Sustainable Timber (GLSTF).
In 2018, the governments of China and Mozambique signed an agreement to facilitate the exchange of information on timber exported to China.
«We believe they will support us very much in this,» Chafim Falume added, referring to China, which, he noted, accounts for 90% of the timber traded by Mozambique.
Restrictions on the export of logged timber have been in place since 2002, and these were tightened in 2017 to prohibit the export of species native to Mozambique. In 2023, the ban was extended to cover all species.
Despite the Mozambican government's export restrictions, the international non-governmental organisation Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) estimated in 2024 that, between 2017 and 2023, around 3.7 million tonnes of logs were shipped to China, with an estimated value of $1.3 billion (€1.12 billion).
Speaking to Lusa, Imede Chafim Falume highlighted the «enormous» effort to combat smuggling since last year, which has involved «closing off access routes», «intensive monitoring» and the introduction of a digital system to control timber exports.
«Mozambique's main problem was smuggling for the purposes of export. We believe the work we have carried out swiftly [is paying off]; the cartels, I think, are feeling rather under pressure, but we will continue to do our job. Smuggling levels have fallen very significantly compared with previous years,» he said.
In 2025, he also pointed out, 111 containers were seized. «At the moment [the case is] before the justice system, and I think that was a major blow to those who believed they could export as they pleased,» he noted, adding that, in that same year, the authorities seized around 1,200 cubic metres of unprocessed timber, a «very reduced» amount compared with previous years.
In August last year, Lusa reported that Mozambican forestry authorities had detained a ship carrying 111 containers, bound for China, on suspicion of smuggling timber prohibited for export, at the port of Beira in Sofala province, in central Mozambique.
Chafim Falume said he wished to convey Mozambique's concerns to the sector's main buyers during this forum, which brings together «the major players in the timber trade».
«We want them to come to our country to set up processing plants and export the products from there. We believe we will be able to convince them, because our timber is of a very high quality,» he emphasised.
According to Falume, Mozambique faces structural challenges in forest management, one of which is deforestation, estimated at «more than 267,000 hectares per year». «Deforestation is occurring at levels that we consider to be rather high,» he added in an interview with Lusa.
Among the main factors he identified are shifting cultivation, uncontrolled burning, charcoal production and urbanisation.
According to him, around 60% of the Mozambican population lives in forested areas and uses these resources in their daily lives.
The fourth edition of the Global Forum on Legal and Sustainable Timber is bringing together 800 participants from 49 countries and regions until Wednesday.
The presence of representatives from Portuguese Language Countries, such as Mozambique and Brazil, and from Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico, Peru and Ecuador, reinforces the «international dimension of the Forum and Macau's role as a platform for cooperation», said Che Weng Keong, President of Macau's Institute for the Promotion of Trade and Investment (IPIM), in his opening address today.
China established the Macau Special Administrative Region as a platform for strengthening economic and trade cooperation with Portuguese Language Countries in 2003. More than two decades later, the focus was broadened to include Spanish-speaking countries.
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