Vietnam’s civil society organizations confirmed their role in the VPA/FLEGT negotiation process

In April 2012, in response to an invitation from the FLEGT and Lacey Standing Office of the Vietnam Forest Administration (VNFOREST) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Core Group of the VNGO-FLEGT Network, including the Centre of Research and Development in Upland Areas (CERDA), the Centre for Sustainable Development in Mountainous Areas (CSDM), People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature) and the Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD), submitted a Commenting Document on the 5^th Draft of the Legality Definitions on Timber and Timber Products. The Commenting Document identified initial steps for Vietnamese NGOs as an important stakeholder in the negotiation process between the Vietnamese Government and the European Union (EU).

Based on its practical experience working with local communities, the Core Group of the Network pointed out that, in addition to consultation activities with related ministries and agencies, it is necessary to have community consultation activities, particularly with forest dependant households, to ensure a comprehensive and practical vision in the Timber and Timber Product Legality Definitions process. The Core Group's response confirmed that  "...International experience ... presented at the recent FLEGT Week, showed that during the process of developing legality definitions on timber and timber products in VPA/FLEGT negotiations, countries who have signed and/or are soon-to-sign agreements, all had undertaken community consultation and incorporated the opinions of local/indigenous communities ...". The Core Group also expressed the desire to contribute further to future drafts of Legality Definitions on Timber and Timber Products, as well as the VPA/FLEGT negotiation process, through Network activities such as building the capacity of members of the Network to enable them to effectively participate in to VPA/FLEGT negotiation process; conducting community consultation on legality definitions and VPA/FLEGT; Evaluating the potential impact of VPA/FLEGT on local communities in Vietnam; and organizing meetings and workshops with stakeholders on the findings from the community consultations and VPA/FLEGT impact evaluation.

In addition, the Commenting Document made recommendations, such as considering the full timber supply chain to ensure comprehensive timber legality definitions and requesting a clear reference of related laws to facilitate implementation and avoid overlapping laws.

The VNGO-FLEGT Network was established in January 2012, in the context of Vietnam's preparation for the 3^rd official round of VPA negotiations to be held in this summer, with the aim of enabling Vietnamese civil society to contribute its voice and to play an important role in the policymaking process. Particularly in relation to good forest management and the implementation of Vietnam's Forest Management, Protection and Development Plan for the period from 2011 to 2020. The Network currently consists of twenty Vietnamese NGOs, institutes, and University Development Centers in the fields of forestry, rural community development, natural conservation and climate change response. The network is open for all CSOs/VNGOs to register.

For more information please contact:

            Mrs. Pham Thi Bich Ngoc - Coordinator of the Network

            Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

            Tel: 04 3943 6678 (ext. 401)  

Click here to read detailed comments on the 5th Draft

-SRD-