The Ivorian Minister of Water and Forests, Laurent Tchagba signed in Brussels, Belgium, the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on the application of forest regulations, governance and trade in forest regulations, governance and trade in wood and derived products (VPA-FLEGT) with the European Commission.

The agreement signed on 19 February is a bilateral international agreement between the EU and a wood-exporting country, the aim of which is to improve the country's forest governance and to ensure that wood imported into the European economic block meets all regulatory requirements of the partner country. The agreement commits both parties to trade only in timber and timber products whose legality is verified