1. Nine joint expert meetings and numerous discussions have taken place between Vietnam and Indonesia regarding their respective voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) with the EU on illegal logging, but no agreement has been reached. Vietnam aims to sign a VPA in 2016 and needs to improve its timber tracking system. 2. Stakeholders have varying motivations for the VPA negotiations. The Vietnamese forest service sees it improving Vietnam's reputation, larger companies see access to European markets, and civil society groups see improved forest governance and protection. However, businesses worry licensing and oversight may be complicated and costly. 3. Small timber enterprises are at the bottom of Vietnam's supply chain but may struggle with VPA and EU Timber Regulation compliance

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SHARING EXPERIENCE ON NEGOTIATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION IN THE
FLEGT-VPA PROCESS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND INDONESIA
Background
Since the beginning of the negotiation process, 9 Joint Expert Meetings (JEM) have taken place,
numerous video conferences have been held between the two parties, and there have been regular
Technical Working Groups targeting some of the main VPA topics, such as the legality definition, the
TLAS design and communication. In spite of multiple bilateral discussions and exchanges with the
FLEGT facility, no agreement has been reached thus far. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a
system of tracking timber within Vietnam to prevent illegal logging and to prepare for future
implementation of the VPA,which is expected to be signed in 2016.
The motivation for the VPA negotiations varies depending on the stakeholders: VNFOREST sees the
VPA as a means to improve Vietnam’s reputation and be put on the same level as VPA countries that
engaged earlier, such as Cameroon and Indonesia. Bigger processing companies see the VPA as a tool to
develop their European markets. National Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) see it as a way to protect
forests and improve forest governance, which has not been a high concern for timber producing
companies. It is necessary to create a shared understanding among the private sector, public sector and
civil society about the benefits that the VPA bring to create a shared value among all stakeholders.
Although most businesses understand the benefits of the VPA, they are concerned that licensing
procedures and systems will be complicated and that officials in charge will create problems and corrupt
the process, resulting in delays and increased costs that would affect the credibility of businesses due to
the delays in exporting. As a result, businesses will bear fines as defined in their contracts and could lose
clients. It is therefore necessary to increase the dialogue between the public and private sectors to
strengthen mutual understanding.
Small Enterprises (with few employees) are at the bottom of the Vietnamese chain of custody although
they supply many bigger companies that may be Chain of Custody (CoC) certified. However, the Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) may have difficulty complying with EU Timber Regulations (EUTR) or
VPA requirements, especially in regard to labour conditions (employment contracts, safety conditions,
etc.). As a result, bigger companies would have to explore less demanding markets that do not always
require legality evidence. It is necessary to promote support and cooperation among businesses
throughout the supply chain as well as dialogues among stakeholders, especially in the public and private
sectors,to support future implementation of the VPA.
Indonesia VPA-FLEGT entered into force in 2004 but it has only been passed through the EU Parliament
and EU Council recently and Indonesia is planning to issue FLEGT licenses on 15 November at the
earliest.
Vietnam is going to conclude the negotiation of its VPA to EU later this year so any experiences and
lessons learned from Indonesia will help to make its learning curve less stiff. Therefore, Vietnamese
business associations and civil society organizations (CSO) are particularly interested in learning about
roles of business associations, NGOs and CSOs in future FLEGT VPA implementation in Indonesia.
What are the implications for businesses and communities when VPA is implemented and the role of the

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government and CSOs or business associations in Indonesia in supporting businesses and communities
alike?
In this exchange, we would like to focus on discussions on the roles of business associations, NGOs and
CSOs during negotiations and development of specific annexes of the VPA, design of FLEGT licensing
system and future monitoring to ensure its accountability and transparency in Indonesia. The proposed
time frame is two days, including a field trip to Vietnamese timber businesses, a half day of roundtable
discussions with business associations and CSOs and follow-up discussions with selected NGOs/CSOs
who are working on FLEGT related projects to discuss what they have learned from Indonesian
experience and implications in Vietnam and what can be leveraged from the ongoing projects/ plans
(Please see attached a tentative working schedule for more information).
A description of the workshop is provided below. CED with the support from GIZ will host for ½ day
focus discussions as mentioned above.
Objectives:
- Updates on VPA FLEGT process in Vietnam (information sharing and discussions)
- Update and sharing lessons from Indonesia (informal sharing and discussions)
- Discussions and Q& A (focus on questions from Vietnamese participants, sharing the work of
other regional institutions that both countries can leverage in the future).
Participants: Approximately 40 representatives from private sectors (Timber associations, timber
businesses ...),CSOs,NGOs, stakeholders (Forest rangers,local customs, journalists…)
Time: ½ day workshop on October 18th, 2016 in Hanoi (AM)
Funding: GIZ
Time: 8:00 to 12:00 AM,Tuesday, October18 2016
Venue: Pullman Hotel, 40 Cat Linh,Ba Dinh, Ha Noi
Time Activities Responsible
8:00-8:30 Welcoming participants CED
8:30-8:45 Introduction of the purposes of the meeting and
participants
CED
08:45-9:15 Updates in VPA-FLEGT process in Vietnam – key issues
and plans forward
VNFOREST (TBC)
9:15-9:45 Update on Indonesia VPA process (based on further inputs
from CED)
Indo
9:45-10:15 Tea break
10:15-10:45 Q&A All participants
10:45-11:00 Indonesia design FLEGT licensing system and its
independent future monitoring mechanisms
Indo

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11:00-11:30 Q&A All participants
11:30-12:00 Conclusion and closing remarks CED
12:00-13:30 Lunch