Pressroom  >  Press Releases  >  Forest Trends Signs a New MOU with Vietnamese Timber and Rubber Industry Associations to Facilitate Research, Customs Data Sharing and Analysis, and Policy Advocacy
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On September 28th, 2018 Forest Trends signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFORES), the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA), the Forest Products Association of Binh Dinh, the Binh Duong Furniture Association (BIFA), and the Vietnam Rubber Association. Members of these four associations contribute to 70-80% of the country’s annual total export revenue derived from timber products.

Under the new MOU, signatories agree to share market information on Vietnam’s imports and exports of timber and rubber products, and on legality requirements from international markets where these products, including rubberwood, are consumed. Parties also agree to share information on implementation of Vietnamese government forest and trade policies related to use and management of forest resources, and to collaborate on future research on timber and rubber industries.

“This data will improve understanding of the import/export dynamics of timber and timber products, including the identification of high risk products imported into Vietnam and exported to regulated markets,” says Phuc Xuan To, Senior Policy Analyst at Forest Trends. “This serves as an important input for policymaking. In addition, the MOU itself puts us in a better position to inform new legislative developments.”

An existing MOU signed in 2017 with VIFORES, HAWA, FPA Binh Dinh, and the Vietnam Rubber Association, supports monthly analyses of timber production, processing, trade and markets. Insights from these analyses provide transparent market information, feed into national policy-making processes, and improve enforcement of relevant laws and regulations in Vietnam and elsewhere in the Mekong region. These insights are widely distributed within the timber and rubber industry as an important source of information about potential opportunities and risks associated with sourcing timber and rubber products, as these sectors become more deeply integrated into global markets.

“Our members contribute 40% of Vietnam’s total export revenues from timber products,” added Dien Quang Hiep, Chairman of BIFA. “Now that we have joined the other three timber associations under this MOU, our joint research can help state and non-state actors become better informed.”

About Forest Trends’ Vietnam program

Since 1999, Forest Trends’ Forest Policy, Trade, and Finance (FPTF) program has supported market transformations towards timber products and agricultural commodities sourced verifiably legalfrom forest areas, helping to support the the rule of law in forest-rich countries. We provide comprehensive views of how markets, trade, economic development, land and resource rights, and legality interact.

FPTF has worked closely with the government of Vietnam and representatives from industry and NGOs to open dialogue on cross-border timber trade and resource tenure, and help integrate governance issues into Vietnam’s FLEGT VPA process and REDD+ national processes. Our Vietnam program is known for its knowledge-building approach and ability to quickly identify when and why stakeholders engaged in policy deliberations are struggling to come to a common understanding – typically with no data, asymmetrical access to data, lack of evident-based insights from national and industry level, and land use and management practices, or the need to present data in an easily accessible manner. With our industry, government, and local NGO partners we are able to quickly turn around quality, policy-relevant information to inform timely policy dialogue with key stakeholders. Beginning the dialogue process at the research design phase enables buy-in for our findings, and has proven to be a low-cost, high-impact means of influencing policy formulation and enforcement as well as continued knowledge-sharing and ownership of policy impacts.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Access a range of publications in Vietnamese on Vietnam’s wood and forests products industry and trade dynamics, to which Forest Trends and its partners have contributed, here.

Nguyen Vinh Quang, To Xuan Phuc, Naomi Basik Treanor, Nguyen Ton Quyen, and Cao Thi Cam. Linking Smallholder Plantations to Global Markets: Lessons from the IKEA model in Vietnam. Washington DC: Forest Trends Association, 2018.

Phuc Xuan To, Naomi Basik Treanor, and Kerstin Canby. Impacts of the Laos Log and Sawnwood Export Bans. Washington DC: Forest Trends, 2017.

Phuc Xuan To and Kerstin Canby. Laos Log and Sawnwood Export Ban: Impacts on the Vietnam–Lao Timber Trade. Washington DC: Forest Trends, 2017.

To Xuan Phuc, Nguyen Ton Quyen, Huynh Van Hanh, Tran Le Huy, and Cao Thi Cam. Vietnam’s Imports of Cambodian Logs and Sawnwood from Natural Forests: 2013-2015. Washington DC: Forest Trends Association, 2016.

Phuc Xuan To and Huu Tran Nghi. Rubber Expansion and Forest Protection in Vietnam. Washington DC: Forest Trends Association, 2014.