The FLEGT VPA ad-hoc working group held the first remote meeting of this year on 21 January 2021, with Mr. Somsak Sapakosonkun, Deputy Director of the Royal Forest Department (RFD), as the chairman of the meeting. There were 40 participants from private, public, and civil society sectors attending.
Mr. Boonsuthee Jeravongpanich, Director of the Forest Standards Division, RFD reported the FLEGT VPA’s progress last year, which has seen significant improvement with many international and national meetings being held throughout the year. The previous year’s meetings consisted of the Third Thailand-EU Negotiation (NEG 3), the Fifth Thailand-EU Joint Expert Meeting (JEM 5), three National FLEGT Committee meetings, four Sub-committee meetings, eleven Ad-hoc working group meetings, and 48 sub-working group meetings. Moreover, Mr. Boonsuthee briefed about the progress of annexes. Condition for the Release for Free Circulation in the Union of Thai FLEGT Licensed Timber Products (Annex 3) and Terms of Reference for Independent Audit (Annex 7) were agreed by Thailand and the EU on the technical level. They were put aside until the end of the negotiation. So does the Thai Timber Legality Definition (annex 2), which was agreed on a technical level, but Thailand is still carrying out the work in this annex by keeping stock of any updated laws and conclusions from other annexes that are to be reflected in the draft. Thai Timber Legality Assurance System (annex 5) and Thai Supply Chain Controls (annex 6) drafts are under revision. The working group is in the process of developing the THA-TLAS system. Other documents – guidelines for supply chain control of timber on private and public land and reclaimed timber under the Supply Chain Controls annex are also ongoing. The working group will start developing the Public Disclosure of Information (annex 9) with RECOFTC as the sub-working group leader.
Ms. Rungnapa Wattanavichian, the representative from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), reported regional stakeholder consultation results. Many valuable recommendations and comments about the supply chain control on public land and the self-declaration process will be reflected in the draft guideline. More consultations will be held this year to gather more recommendations and concerns about the Product Scope, ensuring that all relevant actors’ opinions are factored in the annex.
Ms. Nanthira Rodvong, the representative of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), presented the project’s progress to develop an application to strengthen timber traceability. The study’s current finding shows that application to detect timber species and collate timber documents is the most probable solution to incorporate into the RFD Single Window. AIT will submit the final report to the working group in the next months.
A representative of the product scope sub-working group concluded that recycled products will be exempted from the Product Scope annex. The working groups will discuss a guideline to certify recycled products. The certification will help inform the EU customs of the product status. As recycled products are not subjected to EUTR and the Thailand-EU FLEGT VPA, they will be allowed to enter the EU without going through EUTR or receiving the FLEGT license.
Before the next AHWG meeting on 19 February, the working group will attend Visio Terra’s FLEGT Watch presentation. FLEGT Watch is a service which uses satellite technology to track timber resource.
