Physical inspection of 20% of wood shipments before exporting

On September 1, 2020, the Government issued Decree 102/2020 / ND-CP on the regulation of the Vietnamese Legal Timber Protection System.

Accordingly, timber is at risk of being imported into Vietnam under one of the following criteria: timber in the Appendix to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; Timber on the list of endangered, precious and rare forest flora and fauna species of group IA, group IIA; The list of endangered, precious and rare species prioritized for protection according to regulations; wood imported into Vietnam for the first time; timber in danger of extinction in a country of illegal harvesting or trading is specified in international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.

In addition, exported timber consignment of timber owners who are not Group I enterprises must be verified by the local Forest Protection Department regarding the wood origin. Timber consignments originating from domestically planted timber exported to non-EU markets do not require confirmation. Forest Protection Department performs physical inspection of 20% of timber shipments. If there is any information about the violation, it is proposed to the Head of the local Forest Protection Department to decide to increase the inspection rate and extend the inspection time (no more than 2 days).

In addition, the FLEGT license will be revoked if it falls into one of the following cases: the timber owner voluntarily returns it; the FLEGT license expires but the timber owner did not export or requested an extension of the license; The timber owner has committed a law violation related to the export consignment discovered after being licensed; The timber owner has committed fraud in information related to the issued FLEGT license.

The Decree takes effect from October 30, 2020.