Viet Nam Strengthens Customs and Forest Rangers to Combat Illegal Timber Imports
Front-line law enforcement officers from across Viet Nam have received specialised timber legality training, critical to Viet Nam's efforts to promote sustainable forest management and combat illegal timber trade.
Viet Nam is a major importer and exporter of timber products. Much of the timber is sourced via cargo shipment from Africa, particularly from the Congo Basin, where uncontrolled deforestation is a major problem.
This situation jeopardises Viet Nam's timber industry and challenges frontline officers who, due to limited capacity and knowledge, struggle to verify timber species, origins, and documentation in order to ensure legality.
To address theses challenges, TRAFFIC, the Department of Forestry, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) organised a series of training courses in Quang Tri, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Dong Nai, and Gia Lai, reaching 123 officials from Viet Nam Customs, Forest Protection Department, and Environmental Police, across 21 provinces.
The curriculum focused on enhancing skills in assessing and verifying legal compliance related to imported timber, covering the following topics:
- International and Vietnamese regulations on timber legality
- Due diligence in managing imported timber
- Controlling high-risk species and timber identification methods
- Traceability tools to verify timber species along the supply chain
- Use of a new wood identification tool in development by TRAFFIC
This training series came at a critical time, as Viet Nam works to implement its commitments under the Viet Nam-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/FLEGT) signed in 2019, which requires robust systems to ensure the legality of all timber in Viet Nam's supply chain, making the enhanced capabilities of front-line officers even more crucial.
Linh Nguyen, Project Manager at TRAFFIC, expressed optimism about the program’s impacts, stating, “The high pass rate and positive feedback from participants indicate that we have made substantial progress in equipping our officials with the necessary tools to combat illegal timber trade. It represents a crucial step in Viet Nam's ongoing efforts to promote sustainable forest management."
This comprehensive training initiative marks a significant milestone in Viet Nam's commitment to combating illegal timber trade and ensuring the sustainability of its timber industry. By enhancing the skills and knowledge of its front-line officers, Viet Nam is taking proactive steps to protect its forests, support legal trade, and contribute to global efforts in forest conservation.
Notes:
The initiative, spearheaded by the Vietnamese Government in collaboration with TRAFFIC, ran from March to September 2024, as part of the project "Leveraging legality of China's timber supply to reduce deforestation", funded by Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI).
About Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI):
NICFI supports efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries through efforts to improve forest and land management in tropical forest countries and reduce the pressure on tropical forests from global markets.
