A/HRC/22/50/Add.2 59. Steps have been taken to improve this state of affairs so that the population can profit from the country’s natural resources in accordance with the requirements of the right to development. A joint order issued on 26 June 2012 fills a gap in the system that was first introduced in 1994 by providing for the establishment of an additional mechanism to monitor allocated funds, verify how they are being used and help to shape decisions on how this revenue should be spent. The Special Rapporteur encourages Cameroon to continue on this path by: (a) guaranteeing the transparency of transfers, for example by requiring councils and local committees to publish figures on the royalties paid to villages, informing citizens in radio broadcasts about how the money has been used and publishing a list of expenditures at the end of the budget year; (b) building the capacities of local communities, especially women and indigenous communities, to participate in taking decisions about the use of tax revenue; (c) encouraging investment of this revenue; and (d) strengthening monitoring, appeals and sanctions mechanisms. The Special Rapporteur also encourages the Government to issue a joint ministerial order for the mining sector, equivalent to the one issued in 2012 on the distribution of forest revenue in which the modalities for allocating royalties to local communities are defined in line with the decree of 2002 on the implementation of the 2001 Mining Code. 60. The strikingly low rate of tax on agricultural concessions is difficult to ignore. By way of illustration, SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Herakles) was given a 99-year lease on 73,086 hectares of land in exchange for paying an annual fee of US$ 1 per hectare (for developed land) and US$ 0.50 per hectare for undeveloped land. The 50-year lease granted to the HEVECAM company on 7 January 1997 for an area of 40,000 hectares amounts to CFAF 150 million (subject to review every 15 years by agreement between the parties). The 99-year lease granted to SOSUCAM on 20 April 2006 on an area of 11,980 hectares is worth CFAF 77,354,860 (subject to review every five years), and the lease granted to SOCAPALM on 12 July 2000 for an area of 78,529 hectares is worth CFAF 392,645,000 (subject to review every 15 years by agreement between the parties). According to a guide that the Ministry for Property and Land Affairs prepared for users of the land tenure system, the annual fee payable on land concessions is one CFA franc per square metre. 61. As for forest concessions, with the competition generated by the introduction of a public tendering system for awarding logging rights, payments from companies wishing to gain the access to forests (forest royalties, in particular) have increased from a baseline of US$ 0.6 per hectare per year in 1990 (set by the authorities). Average payments were US$ 5.6 per hectare per year for forest management units in 2006, and US$ 13.7 per hectare for timber sales in 2005.28 62. The Special Rapporteur recognizes that it is a complex task to optimize the taxation of natural resources, particularly those in the forests of the Congo Basin. There is a high level of information asymmetry between the Government authorities and the forestry industry. It is not easy to estimate the value of the numerous species, of differing quality and types, that are traded within vertically integrated companies, nor is it easy to predict how companies will adapt to new measures.29 Lastly, the annual forest royalty fee on the basis of which competitive tenders are awarded is only one part, albeit the largest part, of the forest tax, which also includes a slaughter tax, exit rights for timber, the export surcharge on timber, and the sawmill entry tax. 28 29 GE.12-18864 G. Topa, A. Karsenty, C. Megev and L. Debroux, Forêts tropicales humides du Cameroun, Une décennie de réformes (Tropical rainforests of Cameroon, A decade of reforms), World Bank and PROFOR, Washington, 2010, p. 232. A. Karsenty, “Forest taxation regime for tropical forests: lessons from Central Africa”, International Forestry Review, Vol. 12 (2), 2010, p. 122. 15