24 Nov. 2021 – FLEGT VPA Ad-Hoc Working Group welcomed the newly appointed Director-General of the Royal Forest Department (RFD), Surachai A-Cha-La-Bool, as chair of the meeting. Mr. A-Cha-La-Bool reaffirmed the RFD’s commitment to pushing forward the FLEGT VPA process to the point of agreement signing. “Thank you everyone for the continuous contribution, at the moment we must focus on concluding the main concept of the VPA, our work will definitely continue after the agreement signing, we will have to develop both regulation and system to facilitate the FLEGT VPA implementation”

After many years of discussion, the Product Scope Annex has been concluded and is ready for negotiation with the EU. The Annex indicates the list of products that will be regulated under the THA-TLAS system. To promote trade in products from recycled materials such as recycled pulp and paper, this product will be exempted from the control of THA-TLAS meaning that exporting of this product will not require FLEGT/THA-TLAS export certificate. To facilitate operators in certifying the status of their products, the FLEGT VPA Ad-Hoc Working Group has drafted guidelines.

The concept paper on the supply chain control of reclaimed timber was deliberated at the meeting. This concept paper will help improve the issues in the reclaimed timber traceability and gaps in the supply chain, for instance, at the point of transport, import-export, and processing.

At the negotiation with the EU in February next year, Thailand hopes to conclude another three Annexes so that the FLEGT VPA could be signed before 2023.