No batches of Vietnamese wooden goods have been sent back to thecountry since the Lacey Act, the law requiring timber exporters andretailers to prove the origin of its timber and related materials, tookeffect from May 1, according to the Vietnam Timber and Forest ProductsAssociation.

Previously, Vietnam 's timberprocessing enterprises could export their products to the US withouthaving to provide certificates of origin, said the association's vicechairman Nguyen Ton Quyen.

However, Vietnam 'stimber exporters struggled when attempting to guarantee the point oforigin of some of the timber used in its products. The association hasasked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to allow commune– level authorities to grant certificates of origin for wooden goodsfrom these areas.

For the first five months of 2010,revenue from timber exports was estimated at 1.4 billion USD, up 35percent from the same period last year due to a growing demand intraditional markets, especially the US , Japan and China .

Many enterprises have signed contracts and made orders forthe period from now until the end of 2010 and this year's selling priceshave risen by 3 percent against 2009. Thus, the 3 billion USD targetset for this year was within the reach, Quyen said.

There was a slight increase in the cost of imported timber but mostenterprises had stockpiled materials at the beginning of the year tominimise the impacts of such an increase, he noted.

The country expects to achieve 3 billion USD in export turnover fromtimber products this year, 4.5 billion USD in 2015 and 7 billion USD in2020. To attain these goals, Vietnam will have to import 4-5 milliontonnes of timber annually for the next 10 years.

Quyen said that in order to raise the quality of wooden products anddeal with the timber shortage, it was essential to select good woods andchoose better methods to plant trees, with a focus on plantingtraditional varieties./.