Across the Congo Basin, governments have adopted or are progressively implementing log export bans, which require domestic processing of all timber before export. In 2024, the six states of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa and the DRC announced a regional log export ban that would go into effect as of January 1, 2028. But import data shows that implementation lags behind policy in the region, with illegal exports continuing even in countries with full log export bans.

The Republic of Congo is home to more than 20 million hectares of forest, of which more than 60 percent is under concession to industrial logging companies. The Republic of Congo adopted a full log export ban as of January 1, 2023. However, concern remains over implementation, as trade data shows that the volume of logs exported to China has remained relatively stable since the adoption of the log export ban. Civil society actors in the Republic of Congo have called on the government to implement the ban in order to crack down on illegality in the forest sector and encourage industrialization and employment.