The 7th Regional Training Workshop on Timber Legality Assurance took place from 19 to 21 November 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Participants included representatives of nine member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan South Korea, the European Union, international organisations and the ASEAN Secretariat. They discussed their efforts to tackle illegal logging and its associated trade, and measures for trade in legal timber products.

Delegates shared Indonesia’s experience with VPA implementation, FLEGT licensing and monitoring, and discussed progress in other ASEAN member states and in China, Japan, South Korea and the EU to ensure and document timber legality. Significant advancements since the last Timber Legality Assurance workshop in July 2018 in Thailand became apparent. Discussions also covered multi-stakeholder collaboration among ASEAN member states on forestry, governance and trade issues, and enhancing inter-agency coordination on environmental and forest law enforcement and management in the context of climate change. There was agreement on the need to improve understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing small and micro-economic entities to participate in legal and sustainable supply chains. 

Other topics covered were enforcement efforts for timber legality in ASEAN member states and the increasing importance of the legality of imported timber for Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand in particular.

The workshop was co-organised by the EU FLEGT Facility, the ASEAN Secretariat, the Indonesia Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the Indonesia Multi-stakeholder Forestry Programme Phase 4.

Related content:

• Timber Legality Assurance Workshop 2019

Author: FLEGT.org Info