Vietnam, US reach agreement on timber trade control
(VOVWORLD) -Vietnam and the US have reached an agreement on control of illegal logging and timber trade that will avoid hefty tariffs on Vietnamese timber exports, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The deal was inked by MARD Minister Le Minh Hoan and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Friday.
The agreement will contribute to improving the prestige of Vietnam’s timber sector and creating a foundation for the country’s sustainable forestry development. It also demonstrates Vietnam’s responsibility in building, issuing and implementing legal regulations, ensuring the legal timber origin in line with relevant regulations of international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.
The US side spoke highly of the agreement, saying "Vietnam will provide a model – both for the Indo-Pacific region and globally – for comprehensive enforcement against illegal timber."
Currently, the US is the biggest market for Vietnamese wood products, representing an estimated 7.4 billion USD last year, about half of the country’s total. In the first eight months of this year the number stood at 6.4 billion USD, up 58.8 percent year-on-year.