Source: Vietnambiz.vn
On the afternoon of December 11, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association HCMC (HAWA) coordinated with the Vietnam Administration of Forestry to organize online Vietnam – EU International Conference: “Practicing responsible timber trade, solutions from the Vietnamese business community help fill the gap between VNTLAS Decree and the VPA Agreement ”.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Chairman of HAWA, said that the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Vietnam and the EU on forest law enforcement, forest governance, and trade in forest products (VPA-FLEGT) officially took effect from 1 / 6/2019.
The Government of Vietnam has actively internalized the content of this agreement into the provisions of Decree 102/2020 / ND-CP of the Government dated September 1, 2020 on Vietnam’s legal timber assurance system. (VNTLAS Decree).
Up to now, the VNTLAS Decree has been widely deployed in State agencies and the business community of Vietnam’s wood and furniture industries.
However, Mr. Khanh said that the EU side realized that the VNTLAS Decree did not fully reflect the content of the VPA-FLEGT Agreement and initially raised stricter requirements for wood products originating from Vietnam.
“We are aware of the EU’s concern about the effectiveness of the control of imported timber and the inadequacy of the enterprise classification system that will lead to the risk of illegal timber entering the industry supply chain. Vietnamese wood processing still faces many difficulties, “said Mr. Khanh.
On the European side, Mr. Rui Ludovino, Representative of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, shared that after more than a year the VPA-FLEGT Agreement was put into effect, the EU highly appreciated the efforts of the Vietnamese Government in domestic law. content of the agreement and disseminate it to the business community.
However, the VNTLAS Decree and the VPA-FLEGT Agreement still have many differences. Typically the regulations related to scope of application, timber source, import control, enterprise classification, export verification, FLEGT licensing, independent assessment …
Therefore, Mr. Rui Ludovino said that it is necessary to have an adjustment to ensure that timber and wood products circulating between Vietnam and the EU are legal and sustainable.
According to Mr. Tim Dawson, expert of the European Forest Institute (EFI), the adjustment scope of the VNTLAS Decree compared to the VPA-FLEGT Agreement is only partially suitable.
Specifically, the Decree only covers imported and exported timber while other stages of the supply chain (harvesting, transporting, trading and processing wood) are subject to other relevant legal regulations. .
In addition, the enterprise scope, the VNTLAS Decree’s enterprise classification information system applies only to “enterprises engaged in wood processing and export, while the organizational classification system of the Agreement. The VPA-FLEGT applies to all organizations throughout the supply chain.
In addition, the method of determining the wood origin of the VNTLAS Decree is not consistent with the VPA-FLEGT Agreement.
“For confiscated post-treated timber, the VPA-FLEGT Agreement defines legal timber as legally harvested and processed, there is no concept of” temporary import for re-export “but requires all wood to be imported. are subject to the control of the VNTLAS Decree.
Meanwhile, the VNTLAS Decree only mentions “temporary import for re-export” only in licensing, so it is necessary to unify that temporary imported timber for re-export is also subject to import control, “said the European Forest Institute. quote.
Facing the new difficulties in the relationship between the EU and Vietnam after the VNTLAS Decree was signed, the President of HAWA proposed solutions to minimize and reconcile these differences through a soft approach.
“It is“ Responsible Timber Trade Practice ”through HAWA DDS Project. This project is based on the real situation and consultation of stakeholders such as the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, the organizations and European experts, Vietnamese business community.
Since then, both completed it in the form of policy proposals to the state, and concretized it into possible solutions on the basis of unbelievable technology of the Wood Traceability and Accountability System “, Mr. Khanh shared shall.
Mr. Dao Tien Dung, Head of Project Development and Management Unit of HAWA DDS platform, further analyzed: “When the new concept of responsible timber trade is widely disseminated through the HAWA DDS system, Vietnam will be able to realize creating a clean supply chain for businesses.
From there, improving the reliability of the Vietnam Timber Legal System in the eyes of the international community.
At the same time, it helps to fill the gap between the VNTLAS Decree and the VPA-FLEGT Agreement, effectively supporting businesses in meeting legal timber requirements when exporting to the EU market in the near future.
