Date of introduction of the FLEGT licensing scheme
Article 13
1. The Parties shall notify each other through the Joint Implementation Committee of the Agreement when they consider they have made all the necessary preparations for the FLEGT licensing scheme to become fully operational. 2. The Parties, through the Joint Implementation Committee of the Agreement, shall commission an independent assessment of the FLEGT licensing scheme using the criteria set out in Annex VII. The assessment will determine whether the legality assurance system underpinning the FLEGT licensing scheme as described in Annex III adequately fulfils its functions and whether the procedures for receiving, verifying and accepting FLEGT licences, as set out in Article 5 and Annex IV, are in place in the Union. 3. On the basis of the recommendations of the Joint Implementation Committee of the Agreement, the two Parties shall agree on a date from which the FLEGT licensing scheme should start full operation.