2018/0272M(NLE) EU/Vietnam Voluntary Partnership Agreement on forest law enforcement, governance and trade
Lead committee dossier:
Progress: Procedure completed
| Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | INTA |
HAUTALA Heidi ( Verts/ALE)
|
PROUST Franck ( PPE),
ARENA Maria ( S&D),
ZAHRADIL Jan ( ECR),
LALONDE Patricia ( ALDE)
|
| Committee Opinion | DEVE |
ZAHRADIL Jan ( ECR)
|
Louis MICHEL ( ALDE),
Joachim ZELLER ( PPE)
|
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 105-p2
Legal Basis:
RoP 105-p2Subjects
Events
2019/08/30
EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2019/03/12
EP - Results of vote in Parliament
Documents
2019/03/12
EP - Decision by Parliament
Details
The European Parliament adopted by 631 votes to 13 with 23 abstentions, a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on forest law enforcement, governance and trade.
Vietnam became the third country in Asia to enter into negotiations on a forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in 2010, after Indonesia and Malaysia. Negotiations were concluded in May 2017 and the agreement was signed on 19 October 2018.
The VPA’s objective is to provide a legal framework aimed at ensuring that all timber and timber product imports from Vietnam into the EU covered by the VPA have been produced legally.
VPAs are generally intended to foster systemic changes in the forestry sector aimed at sustainable management of forests, eradicating illegal logging and supporting worldwide efforts to stop deforestation and forest degradation.
Policy coherence
Recalling that sustainable and inclusive forest management and governance is essential to achieve the objectives set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement, Parliament called for the EU to ensure the coherence of the VPA with all its policies, including in the fields of development, the environment, agriculture and trade. It strongly support the FLEGT process with Vietnam given the country’s role in the timber processing sector, whilst noting, at the same time, that that the full implementation of the VPA will be a long-term process and that FLEGT licencing can start only once Vietnam has demonstrated the readiness of its Timber Legality Assurance System. Members took note of the challenges represented by coordination between the national and provincial levels.
Implementation
The implementation of the VPA must complement EU commitments to environmental protection and ensure coherence with commitments to prevent mass deforestation.
In this regard, Members called on the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) to:
- allocate adequate human resources to the implementation of this VPA;
- assist the Vietnamese authorities and civil society, including by making satellite images available to them.
The EU was also called on to direct its efforts towards the strengthening of Vietnam’s legal framework and institutional capacity by addressing the technical and economic challenges that impede the effective implementation and enforcement of existing national and international regulations.
The Government of Vietnam, for its part, should:
- adopt a due diligence system with all necessary steps to be enforced by the competent national authorities through sound and systematic checks on individual companies, and providing for requirements on third party auditing and public reporting by companies;
- provide for adequate, dissuasive and proportionate penalties for infringement of legislation implementing TLAS, which would in the case of imports include a full prohibition of the placing on the Vietnamese market of illegal timber, alongside the seizure of such timber.
Members welcomed the entry into force of the new Forestry Law on 1 January 2019, which includes a prohibition on imports of illegally produced timber into Vietnam. They urged the Vietnamese authorities to enforce this prohibition and to swiftly adopt implementing measures if necessary, with a view to bridging the gap until the Timber Legality Assurance System becomes operational.
Illegal trade
Condemning the illegal timber trade taking place across the Cambodian border, Parliament urged the Vietnamese authorities to immediately categorise timber from Cambodia as ‘high risk’ and to make sure Cambodian legislation on the harvest and export of timber is respected, in line with VPA commitments. They also urged the Vietnamese authorities to investigate, remove from function and bring to justice those responsible for having authorised and managed the illegal trade from Cambodia. The same measures should be applied to imports from other supplier countries where similar concerns exist or may arise, notably those in Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Regional dimension
The resolution stressed the need to address the regional dimension of illegal logging and the transport, processing and trade of illegal timber throughout the supply chain. It called for this regional dimension to be included in the VPA evaluation process in the form of an assessment of the link between the existence of weaker enforcement mechanisms in other countries of the region and the increase of exports from such countries to the EU.
Members stressed that poor governance and corruption in the forestry sector accelerate illegal logging and forest degradation and emphasises the fact that the success of the FLEGT initiative also depends on tackling fraud and corruption throughout the timber supply chain.
Work should be carried out to stop widespread corruption.
Monitoring
Parliament called on the Commission to pay particular attention to trade in timber and timber products during the implementation of the FTA and to monitor trade flows closely in order to make sure that additional trade liberalisation does not entail additional risks of illegal trade. It asked the Commission to report to Parliament annually on progress made by Vietnam in implementing the VPA, and to foster dialogue and promote the EU Timber Regulation with the major importing countries in the region and major EU trading partners such as China and Japan.
Documents
2019/03/12
EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2019/03/11
EP - Debate in Parliament
Documents
2019/02/27
EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details
The Committee on International Trade adopted the report by Heidi HAUTALA (Greens/EFA, FI) containing a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the European Union and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on forest law enforcement, governance and trade.
Vietnam became the third country in Asia to enter into negotiations on a forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in 2010, after Indonesia and Malaysia.
Negotiations were concluded in May 2017 and the agreement was signed on 19 October 2018.
The VPA’s objective is to provide a legal framework aimed at ensuring that all timber and timber product imports from Vietnam into the EU covered by the VPA have been produced legally.
VPAs are generally intended to foster systemic changes in the forestry sector aimed at sustainable management of forests, eradicating illegal logging and supporting worldwide efforts to stop deforestation and forest degradation.
Policy coherence
Recalling that sustainable and inclusive forest management and governance is essential to achieve the objectives set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement, Members called for the EU to ensure the coherence of the VPA with all its policies, including in the fields of development, the environment, agriculture and trade. They strongly support the FLEGT process with Vietnam given the country’s role in the timber processing sector.
They took note of the challenges represented by the coordination between the national and provincial levels, which is necessary in order to adequately and consistently enforce the VPA throughout the country and called on the Government of Vietnam to ensure such coordination.
Implementation
The implementation of the VPA must complement EU commitments to environmental protection and ensure coherence with commitments to prevent mass deforestation.
In this regard, Members called on the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) to:
- allocate adequate human resources to the implementation of this VPA;
- assist the Vietnamese authorities and civil society, including by making satellite images available to them.
The EU is also called on to direct its efforts towards the strengthening of Vietnam’s legal framework and institutional capacity by addressing the technical and economic challenges that impede the effective implementation and enforcement of existing national and international regulations.
The Government of Vietnam, for its part, should provide for adequate, dissuasive and proportionate penalties for infringement of legislation implementing TLAS, which would in the case of imports include a full prohibition of the placing on the Vietnamese market of illegal timber, alongside the seizure of such timber.
Members welcomed the entry into force of the new Forestry Law on 1 January 2019, which includes a prohibition on imports of illegally produced timber into Vietnam. They urged the Vietnamese authorities to enforce this prohibition and to swiftly adopt implementing measures if necessary, with a view to bridging the gap until TLAS becomes operational.
Illegal trade
Members urged the Vietnamese authorities to investigate, remove from function and bring to justice those responsible for having authorised and managed the illegal trade from Cambodia and elsewhere. They urged the Vietnamese authorities to immediately categorise timber from Cambodia as ‘high risk’ and to make sure Cambodian legislation on the harvest and export of timber is respected, in line with VPA commitments. The two countries are called on to foster and improve dialogue, cross-border cooperation, exchange of trade data and information on risks related to illegal timber trade and the respective legislation in force, and encourages them to involve the EU in facilitating this dialogue.
Regional dimension
The report stressed the need to address the regional dimension of illegal logging and the transport, processing and trade of illegal timber throughout the supply chain. It called for this regional dimension to be included in the VPA evaluation process in the form of an assessment of the link between the existence of weaker enforcement mechanisms in other countries of the region and the increase of exports from such countries to the EU.
Members stressed that poor governance and corruption in the forestry sector accelerate illegal logging and forest degradation and emphasises the fact that the success of the FLEGT initiative also depends on tackling fraud and corruption throughout the timber supply chain.
Work should be carried out to stop widespread corruption.
Monitoring
The Commission is asked to report to Parliament annually on progress made by Vietnam in implementing the VPA and to put in place instruments to facilitate best practice exchanges between Vietnam and other countries that have already concluded VPAs with the EU.
Documents
2019/02/19
EP - Vote in committee
2019/01/25
EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2019/01/25
EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2018/12/19
EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2018/11/16
EP - ZAHRADIL Jan (ECR) appointed as rapporteur in DEVE
2018/10/25
EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2018/08/29
EP - HAUTALA Heidi (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in INTA
Documents
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2019)444
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament: T8-0141/2019
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Committee report tabled for plenary: A8-0093/2019
- Committee opinion: PE630.528
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE633.070
- Committee draft report: PE632.005
- Committee draft report: PE632.005
- Committee opinion: PE630.528
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE633.070
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2019)444
Activities
Votes
A8-0093/2019 - Heidi Hautala - Vote unique 12/03/2019 12:39:10.000 #
2019/03/12 Outcome: +: 631, 0: 23, -: 13
GUE/NGL
EFDD
ENF
NI| Amendments | Dossier |
| 54 |
2018/0272M(NLE)
2018/12/11
DEVE
17 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Strongly supports the FLEGT process with Vietnam since about 45% of Vietnam's land area is forested, and the country has a key role in processing in the timber sector in Southeast Asia; welcomes Vietnam’s commitment to this process and the progress made so far, including the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA);
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Stresses the need to end impunity in the forest sector by ensuring that infractions are prosecuted; calls on the Vietnamese Government to ensure the full implementation of provisions on whistle blowers of the VPA to contribute to this objective;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Recalls that the implementation of the Agreement must complement EU commitments to environmental protection and ensure coherence with commitments to prevent mass deforestation.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to continue its FLEGT-related support to Vietnam and to ensure the integrity of the FLEGT process, in particular through the stamping out of illegal timber, the protection of the rights of indigenous people and forest dependent communities, and the full involvement of civil society in the preparation of measures and monitoring of results;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to continue its FLEGT-related support to Vietnam and to ensure the integrity of the FLEGT process, in particular through the stamping out of illegal timber and the full involvement of civil society both in the
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to continue its FLEGT-related support to Vietnam and to ensure the integrity of the FLEGT process, in particular through the
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Stresses that poor governance and corruption in the forestry sector accelerate illegal logging and forest degradation; calls on the EU to direct its efforts towards the strengthening of Vietnam’s legal framework and institutional capacity, by addressing the technical and economic challenges that impede the effective implementation and enforcement of existing national and international regulation;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Emphasises that
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Emphasises that
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Underlines that halting the import of illegal timber from neighbouring
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Recalls that sustainable and inclusive forest management and governance is essential to achieve the objectives set in the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 b (new) 2 b. Calls on the EU to ensure the coherence of the agreement with all its policies, including in the field of development, environment, agriculture and trade;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Draws attention to the crucial importance of full stakeholder involvement and of the
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Draws attention to the crucial importance of full stakeholder involvement and of the major role that civil society and the private sector must be able to play; encourages the Vietnamese Government to further develop the working methods in relation to transparency and the timely sharing of documents;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Draws attention to the crucial importance of full stakeholder involvement and of the major role that civil society must be able to play; encourages the Vietnamese Government to adopt a time bound Action Plan for VPA implementation, which further develop the working methods in relation to transparency, notably by ensuring the effective implementation of guidelines on public disclosure of information and the timely sharing of documents;
source: 632.007
2019/01/25
INTA
37 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 11 a (new) - having regard to the report of UNEP of 2012 entitled ´Green carbon, black trade: illegal logging, tax fraud and laundering in the world's tropical forests1a, _________________ 1a http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/2 0.500.11822/8030/Green%20carbon%20B lack%20Trade_%20Illegal %20logging.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed= y
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Recital F F. whereas under a VPA, a country commits to setting up a policy with a view to ensuring that only timber and timber products verified as legal will be exported to the EU8 ; whereas Vietnam will have to adopt legislation putting in place the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS), and set up the necessary administrative structures and capacity in order to implement and enforce its VPA commitments; whereas this VPA will apply to timber and timber products intended for both domestic and export markets, save for the final step of FLEGT licensing, which is for the time being intended for exports to the EU only; _________________ 8 The VPA covers all major products exported to the EU, particularly the five compulsory timber products as defined in the 2005 FLEGT Regulation (logs, sawn timber, railway sleepers, plywood and veneer) and also includes a number of other timber products such as wood chip particles, parquet flooring, particle board and wooden furniture. The VPA covers exports to all third countries though, at least initially, the licencing scheme only applies to EU exports.
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G a (new) Ga. Whereas promoting this voluntary partnership agreement in the region would play an important role in fostering economic integration and achieving international sustainable development targets; whereas the conclusion of new voluntary partnership agreements – in particular with China, which borders Vietnam and is a major player in the processed wood industry – would make it possible to provide guarantees as to the legality and viability of the trade in timber and timber products in the region;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes the signature of the VPA with Vietnam, an agreement designed to bring a complete policy reform in the country aimed at cleaning illegally produced timber from the supply chains of Vietnamese operators; is aware that the full implementation of the VPA will be a long- term process entailing not only the adoption of a whole set of legislation (TLAS) but also ensuring that adequate administrative capacity for implementation and enforcement of the VPA is in place; recalls that FLEGT licencing can start only once Vietnam has demonstrated the readiness of its TLAS system; calls on the Commission to play a role in putting in place political arrangements that would facilitate the exchange of good practices between Vietnam and third countries that have already concluded voluntary partnership agreements with the European Union;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes the signature of the VPA with Vietnam, an agreement designed to bring a complete policy reform in the country aimed at cleaning illegally produced timber from the supply chains of Vietnamese operators; is aware that the full implementation of the VPA will be a long- term process entailing not only the adoption of a whole set of legislation (TLAS) but also ensuring that adequate administrative capacity for implementation and enforcement of the VPA is in place; recalls that FLEGT licencing can start only once Vietnam has demonstrated the readiness of its TLAS system; takes note of the challenge represented by the coordination between the national and provincial levels, which is necessary in order to adequately enforce the VPA;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes the signature of the VPA with Vietnam, an agreement designed to bring a complete policy reform in the country aimed at the progressive cleaning illegally produced timber from the supply chains of Vietnamese operators; is aware that the full implementation of the VPA will be a long-
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to allocate adequate resources to the implementation of this VPA, including ensuring adequate resources to the EU Delegation in Hanoi, as well as financial resources in terms of development cooperation to Vietnam to be specifically earmarked for the implementation of the VPA; encourages the Commission and the EEAS to assist the Vietnamese authorities and civil society including by making satellite images available to them;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Underlines positive developments related to FLEGT and the VPA process during the period of negotiations since 2010 such as consolidation of legislation and regulations, strengthening management and control exploitation of domestic natural forest or clarification of forest land use rights; stresses that Vietnam has recently adopted Forestry Law -which came into effect on 1st January 2019- the law prohibits import to Vietnam of illegally produced timber;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 b (new) 1 b. Acknowledges commitments made by Vietnam’s wood industry, to eliminate illegal timber from supply chains and raise awareness of these matters; stresses however that a shift in a mindset within the industry as well as robust enforcement is key;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Welcomes Vietnam’s commitment to adopt legislation to ensure that only legally produced timber is imported into its market, based on mandatory due diligence for importers, as one of the major achievements of the VPA; recalls that due diligence obligations should not be reduced to a mere box-ticking exercise, but that they should include all necessary steps
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Government of Vietnam to provide for adequate, dissuasive and proportionate penalties for infringement of legislation implementing TLAS, which would in the case of imports include a full prohibition of the placing on the Vietnamese market of illegal timber, alongside the seizure of such timber; calls on the Vietnamese government to ensure relentless enforcement of these penalties thus preventing the ‘laundering’ of illegal timber through the VPA;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 13 a (new) - having regard to the UN Conventions to tackle crime and corruption, including the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime and the UN Convention Against Corruption
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the independent evaluation and complaints and feedback mechanism and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that these are responded to adequately, including via effective and dissuasive enforcement action when necessary; welcomes the commitment by Vietnam to ensure independent monitoring of the VPA implementation by civil society organisations, forest associations, enterprises, trade unions, local communities and people living in the forest areas; stresses the importance of their access to relevant and up to date information to enable them to fulfil their role in this process and to further contribute to the credibility of TLAS and its continuous strengthening; welcomes the commitment of the Vietnamese authorities to allow access to civil society to the national database on forestry; encourages the Vietnamese government to submit TLAS implementing legislation to public consultation and take into account their feedback;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes the independent evaluation and complaints and feedback mechanism and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that these are responded to adequately, including via effective and dissuasive enforcement action when necessary;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Welcomes the involvement of civil society organisations during and following the VPA negotiations and calls on the Government of Vietnam to ensure a genuinely inclusive process during the whole implementation phase and beyond, covering the entire scope of the VPA, including import controls, due diligence obligations, organisation classification system and risk-based verification of companies;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Strongly condemns the illegal timber trade taking place across the Cambodian border and calls on the authorities of both countries to put an immediate and complete stop to the illegal flows; urges the Vietnamese authorities to investigate, remove from function and bring to justice those responsible for having authorised and managed the illegal trade from Cambodia and elsewhere;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Strongly condemns the illegal timber trade taking place across the Cambodian border and calls on the authorities of both countries to put an immediate and complete stop to the illegal flows; urges the Vietnamese authorities to investigate, remove from function and bring to justice those responsible for having authorised and managed the illegal trade from Cambodia and elsewhere; encourages the Vietnamese authorities to categorise timber from Cambodia as ‘high risk’ and to carefully consider the option of applying an import ban for Cambodia; calls on the two countries to
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Strongly condemns the illegal timber trade taking place across the Cambodian border and calls on the authorities of both countries to put an immediate and complete stop to the illegal flows; urges the Vietnamese authorities to investigate, remove from function and bring to justice those responsible for having authorised and managed the illegal trade from Cambodia and elsewhere; encourages the Vietnamese authorities to categorise timber from Cambodia as ‘high risk’
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Stresses the need to address the regional dimension of illegal logging, transport, processing and trade of illegal timber throughout the supply chain; calls on the Vietnamese authorities to seize the opportunity of the VPA implementation process to strengthen their cooperation on illegal timber trade with neighbouring countries such as Cambodia and Laos; calls for the inclusion of such regional dimension in the VPA evaluation process by assessing the link between the existence of weaker enforcement mechanisms in other countries of the region and the increase of exports from such countries into the EU;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Calls on the Vietnamese authorities to apply the same measures to imports from other supplier countries where similar concerns exist or may arise, notably those in Africa; stresses that imports of timber from Africa to Vietnam increased by over 40% in a year, while this timber is often from countries characterised by weak governance, high levels of corruption and even conflict, with widespread risks of illegality in their timber harvesting;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Urges the Government of Vietnam to work to stop widespread corruption and address other factors fuelling this trade, in particular in relation to customs, provincial and other authorities that will play a pivotal role in the implementation and enforcement of the VPA, as a concrete signal that Vietnam is fully committed to the VPA process; calls on the Government of Vietnam to strengthen coordination between the national and provincial authorities in order to ensure consistent implementation of the VPA commitments throughout the country;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B B. whereas the objective of the VPA is to provide a legal framework aimed at ensuring that all timber and timber product imports from Vietnam into the EU covered by the VPA have been produced legally; whereas VPAs are generally intended to foster systemic changes in the forestry sector aiming at sustainable management of forests, eradicate illegal logging, as well as support worldwide efforts to stop deforestation and forest degradation;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9.
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Calls on the Vietnamese authorities to adopt a
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Asks the Commission to annually report to the Parliament on progress made by Vietnam in implementing the VPA, including against the requirements of this Resolution, as well as on the activities of the Joint Implementation Committee, with a view to allowing an informed decision once the delegated act authorizing the acceptance of FLEGT licences will be proposed; is of the view that FLEGT licences should be revoked in case of failure to comply with the commitments of the VPA and calls on the Commission to propose the necessary changes to the relevant EU legislation on FLEGT licences;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Calls on the EU to promote the EU Timber Regulation with all its trade partners and internationally, in order to create a global level playing field in addressing illegal logging
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 b (new) 9 b. Calls on the Commission to foster dialogue with the major importing countries in the region such as China and Japan and to further prioritise the need for concrete solutions to stop illegal timber trade in the bilateral relations with those countries, including in trade relations; supports the Commission in launching VPA negotiations with Vietnam’s neighbouring countries as soon as the necessary conditions are fulfilled and urges the Commission and the EEAS to prioritise FLEGT VPAs in future development and cooperation instruments;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 b (new) 9 b. Calls on the Commission to report regularly to Parliament on the progress made in implementing the VPA, and in particular on how the aforementioned issues have been, and will be, addressed
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 c (new) 9 c. Welcomes the inclusion of provisions on sustainable management of forests in the EU-Vietnam FTA, which also make the connection with the VPA; calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to trade in timber and timber products during the implementation of the FTA and to closely monitor trade flows, to make sure the additional trade liberalisation does not entail additional risks of illegal trade;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Recital C C. whereas Vietnam is a significant country in the context of the timber trade, home to the world’s
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Recital D D. whereas Vietnam is a major importer of timber and timber products, with its factories consuming some 34 million cubic meters of timber and timber products in 2017, of which 25 % was imported and 75 % was from domestic plantations, many owned and managed by smallholders; whereas imports grew in value by 68 % over the period 2011-2017; whereas in recent years, Vietnam has made considerable progress in reducing domestic deforestation and has increased its forested area from 37% in 2005 to 41,65% in 2018, including industrial plantations; whereas Vietnam enforces a prohibition to log domestic natural forest since 2016;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Recital E E. whereas the biggest source countries for logs and sawn timber in 2017 were Cameroon, USA and Cambodia, alongside Democratic Republic of Congo as a notable supplier; whereas, since 2015, Cambodia has been Vietnam’s second largest tropical timber supplier, in spite of a reported ban7 on exports to Vietnam; whereas according to NGOs with relevant expertise timber exported from Cambodia and DRC should be considered at high risk of illegality _________________ 7
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Recital E E. whereas the biggest source countries for logs and sawn timber in 2017 were Cameroon, USA and Cambodia, alongside Democratic Republic of Congo as a notable supplier; whereas, since 2015, Cambodia has been Vietnam’s second largest tropical timber supplier, in spite of a reported ban7 on exports to Vietnam; whereas a 43% increase of imports from African countries was reported between 2016-2017; _________________ 7
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Recital E a (new) E a. whereas in Cambodia the deforestation rate is ranked number 5 in the world and whereas UN statistics show that Cambodia’s forest cover fell from 73% in 1990 to 57% in 2010;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Recital E b (new) E b. whereas, based on Article 3 of Sub-decree No. 131 of November 2006, Cambodia prohibits exports of round logs except from plantations, rough sawn timber except from plantations, square and rectangular timber of thickness and width more than 25 cm1b; whereas all export of natural forest timber products from Cambodia are in principle deemed to be in breach of Cambodian law; whereas, under the VPA, Vietnam is committed to only import timber that has been legally harvested according to the national legislation of the source country; _________________ 1b https://eia-international.org/wp- content/uploads/eia-serial-offender- web.pdf, p. 6.
source: 633.070
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Rules of Procedure EP 159
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Rules of Procedure EP 105-p2
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Rules of Procedure EP 99-p2
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2018-10-16Show (5) Changes
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