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Vietnam denies illegal timber trade with Laos
Vietnam authorities have rejected claims from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) that Vietnamese companies illegally purchase timber from Laos.
In its Commerce Interchange report, the EIA affirmed that Vietnamese timber companies like Zone 4 Military Technique Co-operation Company, Duc Long, Thanh Thuy, Khanh Thinh, Hoang Phat and Da Nang Vinafor, illegally imported wood from Laos to Vietnamese factories.
It is the second report the EIA has published on the illegal timber trade between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association vice-chairman and general secretary Nguyen Ton Quyen said Laotian and Vietnamese customs officers strictly checked timber and followed rules regarding timber export and import activities.
In a press conference held on August 31 in Hanoi, Quyen said the Laos government permitted Vietnamese companies to exploit some areas as well as log land that was cleared to construct infrastructure, adding that companies were licensed to export timber which was used for commercial purpose by Lao authorities.
The companies comprehensively fulfilled the financial and tax obligations in accordance with Laos’ law.
Chairman of the association Tran Duc Sinh said that the association had confronted the European Environment Agency which funded the EIA investigation.
Sinh said the EIA's conclusion was not supported by the European Environment Agency (EEA) because the investigation was not transparently carried out, adding that the EIA's report did not give specific figures. "The EIA used outdated information three years ago and the investigation was based on unofficial interviews," he said.
Quyen said that wooden products from Vietnam that had been exported to markets in the EU, the US and Japan were not made from timber imported from Laos due to high prices and unsuitable production technology.
In recent years, such products exported to the EU were made by imported timber sources with the Forest Steward Council's certification.
Last year, Vietnamese wood furniture exports to the EU and the US reached US$1.4 billion of which US$1 billion was solely to the US.
Vietnam's wood furniture exports to the US have reached US$900 million in the first eight months of 2011 and Vietnamese companies have not felt any impact of the report from the US or EU. In recent years, the EU has supported Vietnam's timber processing industry and helped the industry to produce products to international standards, Quyen said.
The EU and the US have representative offices in Vietnam and tightly control licensing import certification, and these accusations won't impact Vietnamese wood furniture exports to the EU, he noted.
vov,VNA
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