On 12 October, TEFSO invited leaders and representatives of the sub-working groups consisted of the Royal Forest Department, Federation of Thai Industry, Thai Timber Association, Reclaimed Timber Association, and RECOFTC to the TEFSO office to discuss work plans.

The Product Scope (PS) and Supply Chain Control on Private Land (SCC on PL) have reached a progressive stage in the annex drafting. The first PS annex draft and draft SCC on PL guideline, including SD, will be submitted to the AHWG to submit to the EU for comments by the end of this year.

The Import Control sub-working group is now carrying out the gap analysis study of the current draft import control guideline. The group will develop the draft guideline to be ready to send to the EU by February.

Guideline for the SCC on Public Land (PU), will be developed next year. The draft will then be submitted to AHWG to revise further. Expectedly, SCC on Public Land (PU) will be ready to discuss it with the EU soon.

As a growing sector in the timber industry, importance of the supply chain control for reclaimed timber cannot be overlooked. The Reclaimed Timber sub-working group, with support from the consultant, has started the regional survey to collect information on the current reclaimed timber supply chain control. The working group will begin developing the draft guideline, which will be field-tested. The working group will conclude the draft next year.

Next year, the Public Disclosure of Information (PDI) sub-working group will start sub-working group meetings to consider and revise the draft. The AHWG will then review the draft and submit to the EU.

With support from the consultant, the THA-TLAS & SCC working group will continue the discussions to update the draft as concluded at NEG 3. Confiscated timber will be described further in the draft to illustrate the country’s measures to prevent the confiscated timber from entering the supply chain. The working group will also discuss a concrete plan for data management of the THA-TLAS and SCC systems. The draft will then be concluded and submitted to the Sub-Committee to send to the EU.

The LD sub-working group follows up on the EU remarks about government authorized public land agricultural use and the amended Factory Act’s implications on the LD draft, will discuss these topics and provide descriptions on these topics further.

The VPA agreement’s annex drafting has a gradual and satisfying progress thanks to all the stakeholders and continuous support from both the Thai government and the European Commission FLEGT-VPA team. Next year, we are looking forward to the Thailand and EU meetings at JEM and NEG to discuss the agreement marking another progressing step in the VPA process.