On October 28, 2024, the Forest Protection Department issued Official Letter No. 1314/KL-ĐT to address difficulties in managing wood exports.
The basic information is summarized as follows:
Issues of dossiers for export of wood and wood products:
Implementation Timeline under the VPA/FLEGT Agreement.
- According to regulations, the Prime Minister shall determine the timeline for implementing wood export management within 30 working days, calculated from the date the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reaches agreement with the Joint Implementation Committee on the implementation of the VPA/FLEGT Agreement.
(According to Clause 2, Article 28 of Decree 102/2020/ND-CP)
- However, at present, the prime minister has not decided on the time to implement timber management under the VPA/FLEGT Agreement.
- Therefore, the current export timber dossier still complies with the regulations on forest product dossiers for exporting specified in Article 19 of Circular No. 26/2022/TT-BNNPTNT.
If wood products are common plant species originating from domestically grown forests, it is not mandatory to certify the “Forest product list”. The local Forest Protection Agency shall only certify at the request of the forest product owner.
Classification of timber processing and exporting enterprises
- The Forest Protection Department said that as of October 2024, there are 16 provinces nationwide that have implemented classification, with 194 wood processing and exporting enterprises classified as Group I enterprises.
The list is publicly posted on the website: kiemlam.org.vn./.
- The classification of enterprises other than timber processing and exporting enterprises will take effect from March 16, 2026. Currently, the Forest Protection Department has proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop a legal document to provide detailed guidance on this issue.
Compliance with Dossier for domestic forest wood origin when exporting
In case the legal documents have different provisions on the same issue, the document with higher legal effect shall be applied.
Therefore, the dossier of certification of timber origin before export will apply according to the provisions of Article 9 of Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Decree No. 120/2024/ND-CP).
(According to Official Letter No. 1314/KL-DT dated October 28, 2024)
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