The FDA Protocols and Procedures in receiving and accessing public information from the FDA
is patterned after the current legislated Freedom of Information Act of 2010. It provides userfriendly step by step descriptions of both the internal and external available channels through
which stakeholders and the general public can request and obtain information and or document
from the Forestry Development Authority.
The objectives of these protocols and procedures are to ensure public access to information as
provided for under Section 1.5 of the Freedom of Information Act as well as inform interested
parties about basic routine processes in obtaining information from the FDA.
These protocols consist of two components a) the external request mechanisms that enable easy
access by the general public and b) internal protocol through which provide for the domestic
review processes of FDA for authorization.
The Freedom of Information Act of 2010:
The Freedom of Information Act was legislated by the National Legislature in 2010 in realizing
that access to information is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of Liberia and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the African Charter on Human and
People’s Rights.
It also realized that the right to access information encompasses the rights to request and receive
information, especially information concerning public interest. The Act also acknowledges that
access to information is indispensable to genuine democracy and good governance as a whole.
Article 15 (c) of the Constitution of Liberia also provides that no limitation shall be placed on the
public right to be informed about the government, its functions as well as functionaries.
Section 1.5 of the Freedom of Information Act of 2010 has four basic objectives as follows: