On 16 November 2020, the sub-working group leaders held a meeting to discuss the FLEGT VPA negotiation’s onward action plan until the Fifth Negotiation (NEG 5).

As expressed by Mr. Adisorn Noochdamrong, Director of the Royal Forest Department (RFD), RFD wishes to conclude the negotiation with the EU as soon as possible for the benefits of Thai legal timber production and trade.

To speed up the VPA negotiation process, the sub-working group leaders revised the VPA roadmap and drafted a strategic plan for all remaining annexes. The revised VPA roadmap and the strategic plan will be submitted to the next ad-hoc working group meeting to review.

The sub-working group leaders expect that Thailand-EU will be able to agree on all the annexes by NEG 5.