Three macro-existences of the wood industry today

Mr. Do Xuan Lap pointed out 3 macro problems of the current wood industry including: Imbalance between the source of planted forest materials and deep processing capacity; Existing risks in trade fraud, in foreign investment in the industry and risks regarding the legality of the source.raw woodImported tropical products for domestic consumption.

“These are risks that hinder the completion of the export turnover target of 20 billion USD by 2025 that the Prime Minister previously assigned to the industry,” the Chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association emphasized.

On behalf of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, Mr. Do Xuan Lap proposed three major policy areas to the Prime Minister and ministries and branches at the conference to discuss solutions to promote the production, processing and export of forest products held in Nghe An on the morning of December 1. Photo: Phu Huong

According to Mr. Lap, thoroughly resolving the above three macro problems is a matter of survival for the Vietnamese wood industry; and to do this, the Vietnamese wood industryrecommendationwith the Prime Minister and ministries three major policy areas.

Nghe An develops rubber latex cultivation and processing to improve the efficiency of planted forests. Photo: Phu Huong

The first:Restructuring the distribution of wood processing areas in association with raw material areas, developing supporting industries, strategic markets and strategic products based on Vietnam's strengths. This can be done through policy mechanisms to develop infrastructure for deep processing, building concentrated industrial zones, especially in the Central and Northeast regions - where there are abundant sources of planted forest raw materials.

“The government and localities need to have strong enough investment attraction policies to attract businesses; develop an ecosystem with deep processing, develop supporting industries, and support and promote forest growers to create sustainable certified wood sources,” Mr. Do Xuan Lap suggested.

Monday:The Government strictly controls trade fraud, including foreign investment projects, especially small-scale projects, simple technology, producing items with signs of fraud, with capital from China, reducing the trade deficit in wood products between Vietnam and the US.

Specifically, the Prime Minister is requested to direct the strengthening of the mechanism for controlling the prevention of evasion and evasion of origin, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade is requested to support information, skills and knowledge for wood associations in providing feedback in this field; the Ministry of Finance, especially the General Department of Customs, is requested to strengthen the control of the import of semi-finished products that have been preliminarily processed to produce wood products that are subject to anti-dumping tax by the US.

Tan Ky people are still mainly growing small timber forests. Photo: Van Truong's document

Regarding investment fraud, the Prime Minister is requested to direct the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the People's Committees of provinces and cities, especially the provinces in the Southeast region where there is a large presence of FDI enterprises, to closely inspect FDI investment, especially investment projects in product groups with high risks of trade fraud - goods subject to anti-dumping duties by the United States.

In addition, in order to reduce the trade deficit in wood products between Vietnam and the US, the Government needs to issue policies to encourage the use of imported raw wood from the US not only for export products but also for domestic consumption.
Third: Completely eliminate imported raw wood sources that are natural wood with illegal risk signals. Currently, the continuous accusations of environmental organizations are directly damaging the industry.

Therefore, it is recommended that the Prime Minister direct the temporary suspension of the import of round timber and sawn timber from Cambodia and Laos. In the future, it is recommended that the Prime Minister assign the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to establish a bilateral negotiation mechanism with Cambodia and Laos to ensure that imported timber is transparent and legal from this source, and then consider the possibility of re-importing.

Wood processing at Nghia Dan MDF Wood Factory. Photo: Phu Huong

At the same time, it is recommended that the Prime Minister and ministries strengthen strict control over the import of natural wood from Africa, especially from Cameroon, in the spirit of Decree 102 on Regulations on Ensuring Legal Timber; assign the Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to promptly work with African countries supplying wood to Vietnam to promote the establishment of a legal and sustainable wood trade program between Vietnam and these countries.

The association representative also recommended that the Prime Minister assign the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop a domestic market development program that prioritizes the use of planted forest wood, planted forest wood products, and imported wood from low-risk sources; promote and encourage changes in the habit of using natural forest wood and imported wood from risky sources.

In particular, it is recommended that the Prime Minister direct the development of public procurement policies for wooden furniture in the direction of eliminating products made from natural forest wood imported from negative geographical areas, eliminating risky wood types, replacing them with planted forest wood and imported wood types from legally guaranteed sources, especially from the US.

Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association launches Green Vietnam Fund. Photo: Phu Huong

“Developing the domestic market in the direction of eliminating risky imported wood from the supply chain and encouraging the use of planted wood not only ensures the implementation of the Government's commitments in the Voluntary Partnership Agreement but also helps to enhance the image of the Vietnamese wood industry in the international arena. At the same time, it creates opportunities for millions of households currently participating in the planting of raw material forests, directly contributing to improving people's livelihoods,” Mr. Do Xuan Lap affirmed.