10 Mar 2022 – The Ad-Hoc Working Group met at the regular meeting to review feedbacks on the Thai Timber Legality Definition and Public Disclosure of Information Annex from the EU FLEGT Asia Programme, European Forest Institute, our partnered organization assisting in the technical of the FLEGT VPA drafting, and to deliberate the Guideline for Declaring the Legality of Timber on Sor Por Gor.

What have been achieved at the meeting?

Two Annexes: Thai Timber Legality Definition and Public Disclosure of Information are concluded and readied for the upcoming negotiation with the EU.

1. Thai Timber Legality Definition describes the legal criteria which makes the timber legal. The Annex is based from not only forestry law but extend to commercial, societal, and environmental law.
2. Public Disclosure of Information describes a list of information that Thai government is disclosing to the public. The Annex is included in the agreement to ensure that public, stakeholders and independent auditors can access relevant information on Thai forestry sector. This will strengthen governance, legal enforcement and the effectiveness of Thai Timber Legality Assurance System (THA-TLAS) implementation.

Supply chain control of timber on government authorized land for agriculture, known in Thailand as Sor Por Gor, is another focus in the FLEGT VPA process. Following the derestriction of planted tree on Sor Por Gor by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in 2020, planted trees on Sor Por Gor can be harvested and transported without having to obtain an approval from the Royal Forest Department. To provide timber owners with options to certify timber legality, the Ad-Hoc Working Group has approved the Guideline on Declaring Legality of Timber on Sor Por Gor. Timber owners can refer to this guideline to declare the legality of their origin of timber for selling and transporting to the next supply chain point. Furthermore, the meeting has reviewed recommendations on timber from Sor Por Gor of which the SWG stresses the importance of regulatory amendment. The current regulation is still inconsistent regarding the utilization of timber on Sor Por Gor. The Legal Division of the Royal Forest Department took up the recommendation and will propose the amendment to the committee in charge of this year’s forestry law amendment.