VRG promotes the sustainable forest management system's implementation

With the support of the General Department of Forestry and The Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), since 2019, Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) has created favorable conditions for members to develop the sustainable forest management system in accordance with Circular No. 28/2018 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and registered to perform VFCS/PEFC forest certification for rubber plantations and rubber latex processing plants.

The Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification. It is considered the certification system of choice for small forest owners.

By July 2021, 11 members of VRG have been granted Forest Management certification (PEFC-FM) according to international standard PEFC ST 1001:2010 on 51,317 hectares of rubber and granted Chain of Custody certification (PEFC-CoC) under international standard PEFC ST 2002:2013 for 20 factories.

These 11 units include Ba Ria Rubber Joint Stock Company, Binh Long Rubber Company Limited, Dau Tieng Rubber One Member Limited Company, Dong Nai Rubber Corporation One Member Limited Company, Joint Stock Company Dong Phu rubber, Loc Ninh Rubber One Member Limited Liability Company, Phu Rieng Rubber One Member Company Limited, Tan Bien Rubber Joint Stock Company, Tay Ninh Rubber Joint Stock Company, Chu Prong Rubber One Member Limited Company, and Binh Thuan Rubber One Member Limited Liability Company.

Two certification bodies have assessed and certified these companies are GFA Certification GmbH in Germany and SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA in Switzerland. Several other companies are awaiting assessment for certification.A worker is harvesting rubber latex

Previously, Forestry Law No. 16/2017/QH14 dated November 15, 2017, Article 27 stipulates that forest owners as organizations must develop and implement a sustainable forest management plan. After that, the Government issued Decision No. 1288/QD-TTg dated October 1, 2018, approving the project of sustainable forest management and forest certification. Accordingly, forest owners who are businesses with a scale of about 2,000 hectares of rubber or more need to build sustainable forest management models.

On November 16, 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Circular No.28/2018/TT-BNNPTNT regulating sustainable forest management with details on sustainable forest management solutions and the set of sustainable forest management standards with 7 principles, 34 criteria and 122 indicators based on current regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam Administration of Forestry and national standards PEFC ST 1001:2010 of the Forest Certification Program (PEFC).

The Vietnam Forest Certification System (VFCS) was recognized by PEFC in October 2020, showing that VFCS is in line with international standards, opening up opportunities for Vietnamese products to have VFCS/PEFC certification which is the base to enter the world market that is demanding sustainable products.

VRG expects that by the end of 2021, over 268,000 hectares of rubber trees in Vietnam will have completed the Sustainable Forest Management Plan under VFCS, of which about 100,000 hectares have VFCS/PEFC-FM certificates and about 38 processing factories have VFCS/PEFC-FM and PEFC-CoC certificates (including 36 rubber latex processing factories and 2 rubber wood processing factories).

In addition, VRG is actively working with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to agree on a reconnection roadmap and implement it. The aim is to cooperate fully with FSC by the end of 2022 in implementing the sustainable forest management system under the FSC system in parallel with maintaining and implementing sustainable forest management certificates under PEFC.

Vietnam's certificate of sustainable forest management is significant in promoting the certification of sustainable forest management and developing the market for legal and "clean" materials for Vietnam's exported wood and forest product processing industry.

This is also an affirmation of the initiative in implementing sustainable forest management and forest certification, especially when Vietnam's forest certification system has been recognized worldwide.

Besides, Vietnam's certificate of sustainable forest management also helps increase options for forest owners and businesses in implementing sustainable forest certification.