On 1 and 8 April 2021, the sub-working groups overseeing the drafting of supply chain control on private land (SCC on PL), import control, THA-TLAS, and Thai supply chain control (SCC), met the EU FLEGT Asia Programme team to deliberate the current drafts and decide the next steps.

The supply chain control on private land (SCC on PL) concept note and the supply chain control annex near completion with few details needed update further. The SCC on PL concept note will need to explain further the role of the primary processing mill in verifying the integrity of the self-declaration document and preventing greenwashed timber from entering the mill. Furthermore, discussion on the control and document to record sawn timber processed at the harvest site came up. The Thai sub-working group has identified this issue internally. The Royal Forest Department is also in the process of amending regulation governing processing mills to ensure aligning with the de-regulation of timber from private land and timber from Sor Por Gor land.

The sub-working group and EU FLEGT Asia Programme agreed that the SCC annex could be finalized in due time. Further clarification will be included in controlling unrestricted timber on public land outside the national park and conserved forest. The use of self-declaration for the said land will be indicated solely for Sor Por Gor land. The remaining descriptions on import control, the temporary processing mill, and the mill’s role in verifying timber will be added later once conclusions reach.

Revising the import control concept note will clarify the due diligence process to ensure that the information collection, risk analysis, and risk mitigation steps are appropriate to check timber legality and applicable to the importers and the competent authorities. The sub-working group will discuss the institutional arrangement and regulatory development needed for the implementation of import control.

The THA-TLAS annex, which was discussed with the EU the last Joint Expert Meeting and the Negotiation in tandem with the SCC annex, is nearly finalized, with the need to further clarify the control of confiscated timber to assure that Thailand has a robust measure to prevent the timber from being sold back to the supply chain. The definition and control of reclaimed timber will be further refined following the conclusion reached internally. It is settled that the Timber Certification Unit under the Forest Economics Bureau will be the verification unit. The unit is independent of the licensing authority (Forestry Foreign Affairs Office) and all the actors in LD and SCC.

Both the sub-working and EU FLEGT Asia Programme emphasize the importance of developing a system with a smooth information flow and facilitating the ease of certification system to support Thai timber trade and export.

The sub-working group will send the revised drafts to the EU FLEGT Asia Programme who offers help in preparing the drafts for the discussion at the Joint Expert Meeting and the Negotiation with the EU scheduled in September.