Vietnam EU Agreement: Reducing Illegal Logging, Promoting Timber Trade
Last year, Vietnam and the EU signed the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT). The agreement focuses on improving forest governance, reducing illegal logging, and promoting trade in verified legal timber from Vietnam to the EU.
Once ratified by both parties, the VPA will further boost timber exports to the EU.
Going forward
According to some estimates, the VPA/FLEGT agreement will increase the price of the timber products by 20 to 25 percent, leading to a growth in trade value.
A joint committee will continue to oversee how the VPA commitments are implemented, and once all of them are fulfilled, Vietnam will be able to issue FLEGT licenses. Until then, Vietnam timber exports will be subjected to the EUTR.
This is an exerpt from an article appearing on Vietnam Briefing. For the latest economic, regulatory and business news on Vietnam, visit vietnam-briefing.com.