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.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the EU mission to Hanoi has recently held a press conference on May 8 to announce the end of the ratification and approval process of the agreement. On April 23, the Vietnamese Government issued a resolution approving the VPA/FLEGT between Vietnam and the EU. The enforcement of the VPA/FLEGT marks the start of the implementation of cooperation commitments to solve illegal timber exploitation and trade between Vietnam and the EU. A general assessment will be conducted before the FLEGT licensing mechanism of the VNTLAS officially operates. To that end, each batch of Vietnamese wood and timber products exported to the EU will be accompanied by a FLEGT licence in a bid to prevent the illegal import of wood into the EU market.–VNA