The European Parliament gave its consent on Tuesday 12 March in Strasbourg to the conclusion of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) signed in October between the EU and Vietnam to ensure that timber and timber products exported to the EU have been legally produced, in line with the joint commitment to sustainable forest management (see EUROPE 12121/4).
The Parliament's approval, which follows the recommendation of the Finnish rapporteur Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA), was given by a very large majority (632 votes in favour, 14 against, 23 abstentions).
This Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) agreement is based on a system of ensuring the legality of timber throughout the supply chain, a licensing system for exports to the EU, a dialogue and cooperation mechanism for the joint implementation of the VPA and principles of accountability and transparency.
Vietnam's wood processing sector is the sixth largest in the world and is export-oriented. Vietnam is a major exporter of wood products to the EU, but also to China. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)