Extractive Industries Transparencies Initiative

The EITI is a voluntary global standard that promotes revenue transparency at the local level. Its standard encourages governments, extractive companies, civil society, and investor and international organisations to work together to develop a framework for the publication of extractive industries' payments and receipts. EITI has developed a methodology for monitoring and reconciling company payments and government revenues so that such revenues are used in an efficient and equitable manner and to increase transparencies of funds generated by a country’s extractive industries.

The UK Prime Minister Tony Blair launched EITI during the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002. The term 'extractive industries' was limited to hydrocarbon and mineral sectors: oil, gas and mining. However, when Liberia committed to implement EITI in 2005, it extended the 'extractive industries' and included forestry in its EITI, explaining their decision this way:

'...Over the last two decades, logging had been a source of patronage; previous governments colluded with industry to evade millions of dollars in taxes. However, lost revenue was not the only impact on governance. Loggers trafficked weapons and revenue from logging fueled violent conflict, so that in 2003 the Security Council sanctioned timber from Liberia." You can read the report.

Other countries including Ghana and Democratic of Republic of Congo also considered expanding their EITI scope to include the forestry sector. To date, only Liberia has taken serious steps to include forestry. You can read an EITI progress report and the First EITI Report of Liberia ]

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