• Mukula trade in Zambia and other timber trade should be normalized.
• The current situation where Mukula has been misled should be controlled.
• The new regime must implement timber auction floor to promote fair trade.

Timber Producers Association of Zambia (TPAZ) has urged the incoming government to normalize Mukula trade in the country once ushered into office.
Speaking to Money FM News, Association President Charles Masange said Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFFICO) should not be allowed to deal in Mukula tree because its mandate is to promote plantations of exotic timber.
Mr. Masange alleged that some agents have been using the Corporation to export timber at the expense of indigenous Zambians.
“Our appeal to the President Elect is to see to it that Mukula trade in Zambia and other timber trade are normalized. The current situation where the Mukula has been misled should be controlled. ZAFFICO should be removed immediately from dealing in Mukula because ZAFFICO’s mandate is to promote plantations of exotic timber.”
“The current situation which has been going on is that as ZAFFICO continued playing in the sector of hard wood, some saboteurs have been using ZAFFICO to export timber while they deprive Zambians of exports,” Mr. Masange charged.
He said implementation of the timber auction floor has been the strategy of the wood sector so as to promote transparency and fair trade.
Mr. Masange further called on the new regime to ensure implementation of the timber auction floor in order to encourage fair trade.
“The strategy of the wood sector has been to implement the timber auction floor because under the auction floor, transparency will be promoted, fair trade will be promoted, and the much needed foreign exchange in Zambia will be earned out of our own timber species in the country,” he stated.
ZAFFICO is a state owned enterprise incorporated under the Companies Act Cap 388 of the Laws of Zambia whose mandate is to establish and manage forest plantations in the country as well as deal in any forest related activities.
However, ZAFFICO is not involved in the harvesting of Mukula trees but only exports Mukula logs that have been confiscated by Security wings and cleared for export by all relevant government institutions.