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for 55 percent of the country's total wood product exports enforcement governance and trade (FLEGT), was launched in
in 2024. Key products included wooden furniture, plywood, 2020 and updated in 2024.
doors and handicrafts. Hoai highlighted that Vietnam has become one of the top
Enterprises and associations in the timber industry have suppliers of timber to the US and one of the largest importers

emphasised the need to increase imports of US legal timber of US wood.
for processing and re-export as a way to ensure sustainable He said both sides have strictly followed regulations including
timber trade and legal supply chains. the Lacey Act and effectively resolved trade disputes such
Speaking at a workshop on Vietnam/US timber and as the US Section 301 investigation. He called for continued
wood products trade held on 24 June by the Department of collaboration to promote legal, sustainable and mutually
Forestry and Forest Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture beneficial timber trade between the two countries.
and Environment, Vietnam’s leading timber associations and At the workshop, Director of the Department of Forestry
Forest Trends, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the and Forest Protection, Tran Quang Bao, revealed that new
Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST) regulations, including those related to business classification,

Ngo Sy Hoai said that in 2024 Vietnam exported wood and traceability of forest products, geographical zoning are expected
wood products worth US$9 billion to the US, up 24 percent to be issued.
year-on-year. The regulations will help develop a transparent digital
Vietnam imported US$316.36 million worth of timber from transformation system, meeting the requirements of traceability,
the US in 2024, up 33 percent year-on-year, and accounted Bao said.
for 11 percent of Vietnam's total wood imports. The top three He noted that his department is ready to accompany
imported items were sawnwood, logs and veneer. associations and businesses to assure international partners

Hoai stressed that US regulations such as the Lacey Act, that Vietnam is a tropical country but has stopped commercial
require wood imports to be legal and traceable. Exporters harvesting in natural forests.
must comply with documentation requirements including Vietnam does not use wood material from natural forests
export certificates and self-certification of origin. for export and is completely transparent in the supply chain
Vietnam has banned natural forest logging since 2014, and legal system.
focusing instead on sustainable plantation forestry. The country
now relies mainly on three million hectares of planted forests,
mainly acacia and eucalyptus and one million hectares of rawpixel.com
rubberwood plantations.

Until now, 700,000 ha of commercial forests in Vietnam
have been certified. Vietnam aims to reach 70 percent certified
plantation coverage by 2030.
Imports of tropical timber into Vietnam have dropped
significantly from over two million cubic metres in 2015 to
700,000 cubic metres in 2024.
Vietnam’s Timber Legality Assurance System (VNTLAS),

which was developed under a voluntary partnership agreement
(VPA) between the European Union and Vietnam on forest law