diff --git a/protocols/bgp/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/bgp/controller/impl/BgpMessageEncoder.java b/protocols/bgp/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/bgp/controller/impl/BgpMessageEncoder.java
index 2e0ad30..15f9c6c 100644
--- a/protocols/bgp/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/bgp/controller/impl/BgpMessageEncoder.java
+++ b/protocols/bgp/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/bgp/controller/impl/BgpMessageEncoder.java
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
  * netty pipeline.
  */
 public class BgpMessageEncoder extends OneToOneEncoder {
-    protected static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(BgpMessageEncoder.class);
+    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(BgpMessageEncoder.class);
 
     @Override
     protected Object encode(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Channel channel, Object msg) throws Exception {