The US remained Vietnam’s largest market, accounting for 55% of the country's total wood exports. Key products include wooden furniture, plywood, doors, and handicrafts.

The VPA/FLEGT aims to promote the trade of timber products sourced from sustainably managed forests and harvested in line with the laws of the producing country.

Vietnam is promoting sustainable agricultural trade and production to reduce deforestation, heard an event under the umbrella of the fourth Global Conference of the Planet Network’s Sustainable Food Systems Programme held in Hanoi on April 25 by UNDP and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Centre for Education and Development (CED) has organised an online workshop named “Sharing communication experience of promoting the use of legal timber in Vietnam”.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s General Department of Forestry is confident of reaching the export target for timber and wooden products of 13 billion USD for the whole year 2020.

The Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA) on November 11 kicked off a project promoting the sector’s compliance with the Vietnam Timber Legal Assurance System (VNTLAS).

Vietnam is likely to reach its export turnover target of 11 billion USD from wood and forestry products this year as the main season for business is in the last six months of the year, according to an official of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES).

Vietnam will spare no effort to further promote its relations with the European Union (EU), Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said while receiving Federica Mogherini, Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Hanoi on August 5.

The forestry sector has been demanded to take measures to achieve the exports target of 11 billion USD for this year.

Vietnam and the European Union (EU) last week signed a landmark free trade deal that will slash tariffs on almost all goods, including wood and timber products. It is expected to give Vietnamese wood exporters better market access and more opportunities to expand their business.

The export of forestry products in the first half of 2019 fetched about 5.3 billion USD, a year-on-year surge of nearly 20 percent, according to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam will come into force on June 1, 2019.

The Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNForest) launched an action plan on April 3 for communications to implement the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (VPA/FLEGT) between Vietnam and the European Union (EU).

Vietnam will be able to boost its wood exports when the Vietnam-European Union Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (VPA/FLEGT) takes effect.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong had a bilateral meeting in Hanoi on January 7 with Vice President of the European Parliament (EP) Heidi Hautala who is leading an EP working delegation to Vietnam from January 7-9.

Vietnam and the European Union (EU) have basically concluded the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/FLEGT) after nearly six years of negotiations.