As you all might knew, Thai Royal Forest Department (RFD) has pushing Forestry Act reformation which the Prime minister presently proposed for the king’s signature before its implementation. The primary matters of the improvement is to determine timber on private land is not restricted. This means harvesting, processing, and transporting, as well as possessing these timber on private land will not be obliged for RFD official approval when the Act is implemented. However, the implementation of the law is immediately applicable to allotted public land which legally allowed for utilization: Sor Por Kor land, or industrial cooperative land and self-settlement industrial land unless a Royal Gazette from the natural resources and

environment’s minister is officially made to announce that all timber planted on such area is not restricted.and industrial land unless an announcement from the minister is made.

According to the Act, RFD is available for request of official document to approve legality of timber source (M. 18/1) and of timber for exporting (M. 18/2) if needed or requested by the destination country. The farmers or operators from both private land and allotted public lands will only need to fill in a request form and charge fee at the determined amount.

The second round of Lao – EU FLEGT VPA negotiations took place in Vientiane Capital of Lao PDR from 4 – 7 June 2018. The negotiations included two meetings. A two – day Joint Expert Meeting was headed by Mr. Sousath Sayakoummane, Director General of Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and Mrs. Gordana Topic, Policy Officer, Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission. A Technical Working Group (negotiation) Meeting was headed by Dr. Phouangparisak Pravongviengkham, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and Mr. Jorge Rodriguez Romero, Deputy Head of Unit, Directorate-General for Environment,

European Commission.

The two parties discussed the progress made towards the development of a system to ensure the legality of timber, which will verify that timber and timber products comply with national laws and regulations. Since the first face-to-face negotiations in April 2017, the Lao side has further elaborated on various elements of this system. It has further progressed on the development of the timber legality definition. Lao PDR has initiated discussions on timber legality assurance system with a focus on supply chain controls, from the forest to the point of export, and verification processes.