BREAKING NEWS! Vietnam’s Import and Use of Illegal Timber: Virtual Public Hearing on December 28
Today — On Monday 12/28/2020– The United States Office of Trade Representative is holding a Virtual Hearing at 9:30 a.m. EST, for the Section 301 investigation concerning Vietnam’s import and use of timber that is illegally harvested or traded.
In 2019, Vietnam exported 10 billions of dollars in furniture to all over the world, 5 billions to the United States. The Environmental investigation agency reported that Vietnamese state is involved in multimillion dollars transnational organized timber crime and the U.N office on drugs and crime that stated that illegal timber trade displaced all the characteristics the organized.
The reported found that the illegal large scale logging began in 2008 in Laos, it showed Vietnamese soldiers were involved, then after that they were in Cambodia to Vietnam.
A long list of speaking panels today are including below:
PANEL 1
- Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCMC
- Le Xuan Quan, Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Dong Nai
- Tran Le Huy, Forest Products Association of Binh Dinh
- Ngo Sy Hoai, Vietnam Timber & Forest Products Association
PANEL 2
- Tran Anh, Binh Duong Furniture Association
- Thao Do, Tien Dat Furniture Corporation
- Le Cong Thanh, Dai Thanh Furniture J.S.C.
- Huynh Thi, Phuong Uyen, Hiep Long Fine Furniture Company
PANEL 3
- Gat Caperton, Caperton Furnitureworks
- Mark Schumacher, North American Home Furnishings Association
- Cindy Squires, International Wood Products Association
- Rachel Stewart, Gardner-White Furniture
- Andrew Counts, American Home Furnishings Alliance 6. Neil Mooney, Skyline Cabinetry, Inc.
PANEL 4
- Mary Tarnowka, American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam
- David French, National Retail Federation
- Blake Harden, Retail Industry Leaders Association
- Beth Hughes, American Apparel & Footwear Association 5. Nate Herman, Travel Goods Association
During the virtual hearing, the livestream will be available here.
The list of participants is available here.
After the hearing, the full transcript will be posted to this pagehttps://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/section-301-vietnam/vietnams-import-and-use-illegal-timber-virtual-public-hearing-december-28
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