The Vietnam-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade will take effect on June 1st (Illustrated image: I.T)

After 8 years of negotiation and ratification, the agreement is a milestone in resolving illegal wood exploitation. Commitments under the agreement prohibit the export, import, exploitation, processing, and illegal trading of wood in line with Vietnam’s 2017 Law on Forestry. A decree on legal wood trading will be submitted to the government at the end of this year.