How Viet Nam is prepared to meet legal requirements of timber export markets

How Viet Nam is prepared to meet legal requirements of timber export markets

Viet Nam - 09 January, 2012

More and more markets are demanding legal verification of timber products, e.g. the EU with its Timber Regulation and the US with its Lacey Act. The EU and VS are important export destinations for Viet Nam’s timber products (more than 80% of total export revenue). In the report “How Viet Nam is prepared to meet legal requirements of timber export markets” TBI aims to provide some initial assessments of the impacts of these emerging market requirements.

The EU Timber Regulation and the US Lacey Act will have an impact on the timber industry and forest governance in Viet Nam. The timber industry will have to adapt to these emerging legal requirements of their main export markets. Some parts of the industry are already gradually moving towards more responsible timber production and trading, but a number of difficulties exist that prevent upscaling. These include the lack of funding for investment into forest plantations, high transaction costs triggered by small landholdings and processors, and complexity of land tenure system, among others. Furthermore the timber processing industry depends for 70-80% on imports; forests in the country are only able to supply 20-30% of the necessary raw material. Controlling the legality of timber imports will be one of the biggest challenges in developing a Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) and signing a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU.