Tracing wood back to the forest it came from is essential to eliminating illegal logging. The National Timber Office of Benin (ONAB), with assistance from the FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme, established an innovative traceability system for its teak plantations that helps prevent illegal logging, transport or sale of state timber. ONATRACK uses smartphones to send real-time information from the forest to the office, and uses barcodes to track the timber. Th is is a first step to demonstrating that timber is produced legally, and will eventually increase market access for the small and medium enterprises that process and export state timber. The system is so successful it is now used in all state plantations in Benin, positioning the country as a traceability leader in West Africa.