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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GEORGETOWN 001303 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  -ADDED SAN JOSE, BRASILIA, 
 BEIJING, HONG KONG 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2016 
TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID PGOV KCOR KFRD XB CH GY
SUBJECT: GUYANA'S TROUBLED FORESTRY SECTOR 
 
REF: A. GEORGETOWN 00294 
 
     ¶B. GEORGETOWN 00947 
 
GEORGETOWN 00001303  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR DAVID M. ROBINSON FOR REASON 1.4(D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Amid recent public outcry over unscrupulous 
business practices in Guyana's poorly monitored forestry 
sector, the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) has announced an 
investigation into allegations of transfer pricing.  Despite 
some companies' official agreements with the GOG on providing 
employment and economic growth via value-added exports, raw 
logs remain the most popular forest export.  Due to special 
tax breaks for large concessionaires and conspicuous 
under-valuation of exports by some companies, Guyana earns 
less than US $5 for each exported raw log.  While the 
transfer pricing probe and a soon-to-be-announced carbon 
trading scheme may allow Guyana to benefit from its forest 
resources in a more equitable and sustainable way, it remains 
to be seen whether upcoming forestry legislation revisions 
will address other pressing concerns in the forestry 
community, including corruption, use of timber companies as 
fronts for illegal activities, and exploitation of hinterland 
Amerindian communities. End Summary. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
RAW LOGS FAIL TO CREATE JOBS, TAX REVENUE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) A recent public controversy has brought to light that 
two large transnational companies--the Malaysian/South Korean 
Barama Company Ltd and the Canadian/Hong Kong Jaling Forest 
Industries--may have failed to honor their agreements to 
export value-added products and hire Guyanese workers, and 
may have engaged in transfer pricing.  Janette Bulkan, a Yale 
University Forestry PhD student and community and 
environmental activist, has calculated that most logs are 
valued for customs in Guyana at US $90 per cubic meter, while 
Asian importing countries report a value closer to US $380 
per square meter.  Bulkan estimates that this type of 
transfer pricing costs Guyana approximately US $3 million a 
month. 
 
¶3. (C) Hamley Case, a member of the Guyana Forestry 
Commission Board who is also an opposition People's National 
Congress Reform (PNCR) Member of Parliament and PNCR 
Executive Committee member, advocates for gradual 
implementation of a total ban on raw log exports, and 
believes that companies should only be allowed to export 
species that cannot be turned into value-added products in 
Guyana.  Case said that although there was some support in 
the Forestry Commission for such a ban, several Board members 
currently profiting from raw log exports were opposed. 
According to David Singh--the Director General of the 
Iwokrama International Center, an important national forest 
preserve--Ecuador is the only other country in South America 
besides Guyana which still allows raw log exports. 
 
¶4. (C) On December 8, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud 
and Commissioner of Forests James Singh held a press 
conference to announce an investigation into allegations of 
transfer pricing.  A report on the investigation is expected 
in January.  Persaud told EmbOffs that the probe was not a 
response to public pressure--his office and the GFC had 
suspected transfer pricing for some time, but had not had any 
evidence.  Persaud also said he had made it clear to Barama 
that they needed to pay normal tax rates for timber harvested 
outside their duty-free concession.  Persaud said that the 
draft Forestry Bill he had just received will establish a 
system for controlling log exports.  He considers a complete 
ban on log exports financially unfeasible, but supports a ban 
on the export of species that can be converted into 
value-added products in Guyana. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
SOME CHINESE "TIMBER WORKERS" HAVE NEVER SEEN A CHAINSAW 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5. (C) Bulkan and John Palmer--the former director of the 
U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFID) 
Forestry Research Program in Guyana--claim that several 
Chinese companies in Guyana are using their timber operations 
as a front to facilitate the onward travel of illegal Chinese 
immigrants.  Companies have allegedly brought in Chinese 
workers for their timber operations who raised local eyebrows 
with their obvious lack of expertise in chainsaw operation or 
 
GEORGETOWN 00001303  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
other relevant trades.  Former Minister of Home Affairs Gail 
Teixeira previously told ConOff that she had received several 
applications for large groups of Chinese, Indians and 
Pakistanis allegedly coming to work in Guyana's timber 
industry.  Suspecting that these third-country nationals were 
really attempting to travel further north, Teixeira began 
reviewing all such applications personally. 
 
¶6. (C) According to Persaud, companies are required to prove 
that foreign staff provide expertise which is not available 
locally.  He admitted, however, that enforcement was 
difficult on the ground--nobody checks if somebody brought in 
as an expert machinist ends up driving a truck.  Companies 
are allowed 15% foreign staff, with a higher allowance for 
the first three years of operation.  According to Persaud, 
Jaling is the only company not currently adhering to the 15% 
limit.  Jaling officials told Persaud that their foreign 
staff currently represented 16-17% of the workforce, and 
promised to meet the 15% requirement by next year. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
AMERINDIAN COMMUNITIES VULNERABLE TO BRIBES, EXPLOITATION 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶7. (C)  Bulkan, Palmer, and Singh all agreed that Amerindians 
living in the remote interior in a non-cash-based subsistence 
economy are extremely vulnerable to bribery, and can be 
persuaded to sign away their rights to community lands for a 
low price.  A former Commonwealth forester working in the 
interior told PolOff that a group of Amerindians had 
approached him for advice on contracts proposed to them by 
smaller Chinese logging companies.  The forester advised the 
Amerindian communities not to sign the contracts, which were 
extremely one-sided.  Bulkan and Palmer have recommended that 
the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs provide a legal advisor 
and require that any Amerindian community wishing to sign a 
contract involving use of their titled lands have the 
contract vetted before signing.  Persaud said that while 
Amerindian communities were allowed to sign contracts 
regarding their titled lands with anybody they chose, every 
company was subject to the same forestry guidelines, and in 
practice many of the companies contracting with Amerindian 
communities had already been vetted by the government due to 
their operations in other areas of Guyana. 
 
¶8. (C) According to Singh, there is great commercial timber 
interest in the North Rupununi Wetlands, a large forested 
area directly south of the Iwokrama preserve.  Although the 
local North Rupununi District Development Board is interested 
in partnering with Iwokrama to harness the forest's potential 
in a sustainable manner, there are many other suitors, 
including several Chinese companies.  Logs harvested in this 
area could potentially be shipped to Brazil rather than to 
Guyana's coastland, bypassing a difficult river crossing at 
the other side of the Iwokrama territory.  Portions of the 
North Rupununi Wetlands are titled to Amerindian communities, 
and Singh noted that even the provision of free meals could 
potentially earn the loyalty of local Village Councils. 
Singh had seen a blank contract offered to a local Amerindian 
community by a subsidiary of Jaling. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
USAID ENCOURAGES EXPANSION OF VALUE-ADDED SECTOR 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶9. (U) USAID's Guyana Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) 
project is administering a program of market linkage 
activities in the wood products sector.  GTIS facilitated 
International Wood Products Association (IWPA) membership for 
Guyana's Forest Product Marketing Council (FPMC), and 
accompanied FPMC representatives at IWPA's annual Fair in 
Arizona in April.  GTIS estimates that contracts generated at 
this event have already created over US $4 million in new 
wood product exports, and are likely to reach US $15 
annually.  The GTIS project focuses on developing 
non-traditional, value-added exports and providing technology 
and employment boosts for local companies through linkages 
with international partners.  Iwokrama is also attempting to 
launch a sustainable-use timber program focusing on 
value-added products, but has not yet been able to find a 
business partner willing to come up with the required US $2.5 
million initial investment. 
 
-------------------------- 
CARBON CREDITS COMING SOON 
 
GEORGETOWN 00001303  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
-------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Minister of Agriculture Persaud told EmbOffs that 
Guyana had already signed an MOU with the UK-based Chatham 
House to launch Guyana on international carbon-trading 
markets.  A reserve of 1.7 million hectares near the border 
with Suriname has been set aside for carbon trading purposes. 
 Persaud said that he was expecting revenues of $100 million 
annually via trading on the European Union Emissions Trading 
Scheme and possibly the Chicago Stock Exchange.  Persaud said 
that the deal was still being finalized, but he expected to 
make it public in the near future. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11. (C) Comment: Carbon credits and expansion of value-added 
exports could help Guyana maximize sustainable benefits from 
its enormous forest resources.  Yet without political will to 
create and enforce a comprehensive system of controls in the 
forestry sector, an unregulated industry is likely to 
continue taking a toll on Guyana's environment, security, 
indigenous citizens, and public coffers.  End Comment. 
Robinson