Công văn 09/TCLN-KL

To: General Department of Customs

General Department of Forestry has received a document No. 7799/TCHQ-GSQL dated February 10, 2020 of the General Department of Customs on implementation of Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP dated September 1, 2020 of the Government on Vietnam Timber Legality Assurance System (VNTLAS) (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP), the General Department of Forestry hereby gives certain opinions as follows:

1. The list of countries entering Timber Legality Agreements with EU and having operative FLEGT licensing systems

- Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP does not govern the announcement of the list of countries entering Timber Legality Agreements with EU and having operative FLEGT licensing systems.

- Article 7 of Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP on timber dossier for import, regulated entities for importers of timber to Vietnam; accordingly, clause 2 Article 7 stipulates three types of timber dossier for import as follows:

+ Point a specifies timber which is listed in a CITES Appendix: The importer shall present a copy of CITES permit.

+ Point b specifies timber which is imported from a country that has entered a Timber Legality Agreement with EU and has an operative FLEGT licensing system: The importer shall present a copy of FLEGT license.

+ Point c specifies other circumstances: The importer shall make declaration of imported timber origin using Form No. 03 in Appendix I hereof.

Subject to the above, in the absence of a FLEGT license, the importer shall make declaration of imported timber origin using Form No. 03 in Appendix I hereof.

- According to the website of Timber Legality Agreement between EU and Indonesia (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:22014A0520(02)&qid=608777118300&from=EN); only Indonesia has entered into such an agreement with EU and has an operative FLEGT licensing system for timber imported into EU.

2. Documents specified in Section C Form No. 03 Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP

a) Declaration of Form No. 3 Appendix I issued together with Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP (Form No. 03):

- Section A: Every importer falling under point c clause 2 Article 7 of Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP shall declare Section A.

- Section B:

+ The importer shall mark box B1 in case of import of timber from a low-risk country (the list of low-risk countries with timber imported into Vietnam in Appendix II to Decision No. 4832/QD-BNN-TCLN dated November 27, 2020 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development on the list of timber species imported into Vietnam and low-risk countries with timber imported into Vietnam), low-risk timber species (high-risk timber species are prescribed in clause 1 Article 6 of Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP and document No. 8259/BNN-TCLN dated November 27, 2020 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on timber dossiers for import as prescribed in Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP): In such situations, the importer shall not make declaration in Section C, Section D of Form No. 03.

+ The importer shall mark box B2 in case of import of high-risk timber species or timber from high-risk countries into Vietnam: In such situations, the importer shall make declaration in Section C, Section D of Form No. 03.

- Section C: The importer shall declare one of the following additional documentation in Section C:

+ Voluntary certificate or national certificate of the exporting country that is recognized by Vietnam to meet the criteria of VNTLAS: Name, ref. number, validity period of certificate.

+ Timber logging license or equivalent: type, number of license or equivalent, date of issue, issuing authority.

+ If the country of harvest does not require a logging license for the forest where the timber is harvested, additional documentation below is required: Documentation justifying that the forest where the timber is harvested, as governed by the national regulations, does not require a logging license;  name and address of the supplier and reason for not requiring a logging license, enclosed copies (if any).

+ If no logging document is available, required additional information includes: alternative documentation, country of harvest, name and address of the supplier, reason for absence of logging documentation, enclosed copies (if any).

- Section D: The importer shall declare, in Section of Form No. 3, supplementary measures to mitigate the risk of illegal timber in accordance with legislation of country of harvest:

+ Information about legislation of country of harvest concerning timber export: Determine regulations (for example: export ban, export license requirement, etc.) applied to timber export for every product or species of the country of harvest. Specifying species and country of harvest, information about legislation of country of harvest concerning timber export and proof of compliance.

+ Determine risks and mitigation measures: Determine any risk of harvesting and illegal trade related to the shipment as per the legislation of the country of harvest and propose mitigation measures.

At the end of the declaration, the importer shall declare that every information provided therein is true and correct; in case any of the given information is found to be false or untrue, they are aware that they may be held liable for it.

b) Other issues:

 (i) The source to search voluntary certificates or national certificates of the exporting countries that are recognized by Vietnam to meet the criteria of VNTLAS in the website of Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC): https://www.pefc.org/discover-pefc/our-pefc-members/national-members.

 (ii) The list of exporting countries that are recognized by Vietnam to meet the criteria of VNTLAS: refer to the list of countries which are members of PEFC and have national forest certificate systems endorsed by PEFC. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has determined 46 countries that are recognized by Vietnam to meet the criteria of VNTLAS. (enclosed list in Appendix).

 (iii) Documentation and alternative documents in point c, d clause 1 and clause 2 Section C of Form No. 03:

- Alternative documents in point c clause 1 of Form No. 03: If the country of harvest does not require a logging license for the forest where the timber is harvested, additional documentation below is required: Documents justifying that the forest where the timber is harvested, as governed by the national regulations, does not require a logging license. Attachments include copies of the documents (if any)

- Documents in point d clause 1 of Form No. 03: If no logging document is available, alternative documents as per the legislation of the country of harvest shall be provided. Attachments include copies of the alternative documents (if any).

- Documents in clause 2 Section C of Form No. 03:

In case of import of mixed timber product, if the timber product is manufactured from high-risk timber species or high-risk country, the importer shall declare one of the documentation describing the origin of legally-harvested timber and present together with the following:

+ Voluntary certificate or national certificate of the exporting country that is recognized by Vietnam to meet the criteria of VNTLAS: name and type, ref. number and validity period of certificate as prescribed in point a clause 2 Section C of Form No. 03.

+ In the absence of certificate or logging documentation: proof of timber legality includes: number, date of issue and issuing authority; supplementary or alternative document of timber legality in accordance with legislation of country of harvest. Attached copies of proof of timber legality (if any) as prescribed in point b clause 2 Section C of Form No. 03.

LIST

OF COUNTRIES WITH NATIONAL FOREST CERTIFICATION ACCREDITED BY VIETNAM (Enclosed with Document No. 09/TCLN-KL dated January 5, 2021 of the General Department of Forestry)