Since 1 June, the government has banned the purchase and transport of coal without a licence. If the measure is not complied with, the offender will be arrested and sentenced to between one and five years in prison.
According to an article published on Wednesday 5 June by the Carta de Moçambique news portal, the information is contained in Law 17/2023 of 29 December on Forests and Wildlife, which came into force on 1 June.
According to the website, article 77(1) of the law states that anyone who cuts, extracts, fells, transports, acquires, stores, sells and exhibits wood, charcoal and other forest resources without a licence or without complying with the established conditions, shall be punished with imprisonment of one to five years and a corresponding fine.
‘Until proven otherwise, forest resources are presumed to have been extracted or felled by the person transporting or in possession of them,’ the law states.
The same article establishes that anyone who commits the offence of disobedience or fails to obey the lawful orders of the forest inspector, sworn inspector or other competent public authority will be punished under the terms of current criminal law.
Article 79 also stipulates that those who exploit or process timber forest products with instruments, prohibited means or inappropriate techniques, and those who store forest products in joints, yards, warehouses or yards without observing the legally established conditions, will be punished.
This law prohibits the transfer of rights to exploit forest products without complying with the legally established conditions. It should be noted that Law 17/2023 of 29 December, which came into force on 1 June and repeals Law 10/1999 of 7 July, establishes the basic principles and rules on the protection, conservation and sustainable use of forest and wildlife resources.
