Agriculture ministry gathers ideas for timber regulations
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is calling for ideas to create a draft decree that establishes a system of regulations ensuring Vietnam’s legal timber and wood products qualify for import and export.
Farmers load wood onto a truck in the central highlands province of Gia Lai. (Photo: baogialai.com.vn)
Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) iscalling for ideas to create a draft decree that establishes a system ofregulations ensuring Vietnam’s legal timber and woodproducts qualify for import and export.
The ideas are expected to come from relevant ministries and sectors, expertsand the public.
The draft decree will include criteria and procedures for theclassification of timber exporting enterprises and timber products, and fortracing the origins of imported wood. It will consist ofseven chapters and 28 articles.
The ministry said the decree is necessary to ensure the legality of Vietnamesetimber in conformity with the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest LawEnforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/FLECT), which was ratified by the EU andVietnam on October 19, 2018 to address illegal logging and promote tradeof legal timber products.
The agreement came into force on June 1.
VPA/FLEGT aims to ensure improved forest governance through which alltimber and timber products exported from Vietnam to the EU and other marketsare legally produced and traded.
Under the agreement, the Vietnamese Government is committed to maintainingstrict control over the origin of timber as the products are imported,transported, processed, traded and exported.
According to MARD, the revised Forestry Law was approved by the NationalAssembly (NA) in 2017 and came into effect on January 1, 2019, coveringguidelines and policies of the State on forest management, development,protection and product management. The NA assigned the Government to buildand operate a system of regulations for legal timber.
Vietnam exports timber products to 120 countries and territories,including major markets such as the EU, the US, Japan, China, the Republic of Koreaand Australia.
In 2018, Vietnam’s export of wood and timber products reached a record value of9.3 billion USD, 900 million USD of which was to EU markets. - VNA
Forestry exports are estimated to hit 875 million USD in April and 3.27 billion USD in the first four months of this year, up 17.8 percent year on year, resulting in a trade surplus of nearly 2.49 billion USD, reported the Vietnam Forestry Administration.
The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam will come into force on June 1, 2019.
Export turnover of wood and wooden products reached nearly 3.12 billion USD in the first four months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 18.3 percent, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
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Farmers load wood onto a truck in the central highlands province of Gia Lai. (Photo: baogialai.com.vn) 
