Legal timber alone is not enough

According to data from the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance, Viet Nam’s exports of wood and wood products reached USD 15.014 billion in the 10 months of 2026, up 6.8% year-on-year. This performance further reinforces the wood industry’s position among the country’s key export sectors. However, behind these growth figures, requirements for raw material transparency and proof of origin are becoming increasingly important for businesses.

Whereas quality, pricing and the ability to fulfill orders were previously key competitive factors, information on raw material origins, legality and the production process has now also become essential to maintaining trade relations with international partners.

For the wood industry, these requirements are particularly complex because raw materials pass through multiple stages, from forest planting and harvesting to transportation, procurement, processing and export. Inconsistencies in the information recorded at even one stage can make it difficult for businesses to verify origins when requested by trading partners or when competent authorities inspect their documentation.

In an interview with Newspaper of Industry and Trade, Nguyen Van Dien, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said that improving the institutional framework was one of the fundamental solutions to increasingly stringent international market requirements. In this regard, Decree No. 120/2024/ND-CP, which amends and supplements a number of provisions of Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP on the Viet Nam Timber Legality Assurance System (VNTLAS), is an important measure. In addition, the Ministry has issued Circular No. 26/2025/TT-BNNMT and Circular No. 84/2025/TT-BNNMT to strengthen timber traceability.

According to Dien, these regulations help affirm that Vietnamese timber has transparent and legal origins and meets the requirements of international markets.

“The inevitable trend in the coming period is to ensure that products can be traced back to their origins, thereby holding producers accountable throughout the entire supply chain, from forest planting, harvesting, transportation, trading and processing to export,” Nguyen Van Dien emphasized.

Notably, for export activities, traceability goes beyond the management of legally sourced raw materials and also plays a practical role in preparing documentation to prove the origin of goods. These two aspects are closely related but are not interchangeable.

Traceability enables businesses to control raw materials and monitor the production process. Meanwhile, the origin of goods is determined according to specific rules applicable to each product and trade agreement. To obtain a Certificate of Origin (C/O), businesses must satisfy the relevant rules of origin and provide supporting documentation as required.

This means that using legally sourced raw materials does not automatically qualify a product as meeting the rules of origin for preferential C/O issuance. However, when information on raw material origins, procurement and processing is properly managed, businesses are better positioned to provide explanations, cross-check information and complete origin documentation.

As Viet Nam participates in numerous free trade agreements, a C/O is more than a document required for export procedures; it is also directly linked to a product’s eligibility for tariff preferences. Therefore, businesses in the wood industry should regard stronger capacity to demonstrate origin as part of their supply chain management strategies, rather than treating it as a task to be carried out only when applying for certification.

Digitalizing data to strengthen capacity to prove origin

One notable direction for the forestry sector is the development of an electronic traceability system, gradually replacing management methods that rely primarily on paper-based records. This is not merely a solution to modernize management practices but also an effort to establish a data platform that supports greater transparency across the wood supply chain.

“The Department is currently working with several international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to develop an electronic traceability system and establish a centralized database,” Nguyen Van Dien said.

According to him, the system is expected to help reduce administrative procedures, improve supply chain transparency and enable businesses to cut unnecessary costs. The establishment of a centralized database is also intended to facilitate the management of information across all stages, rather than leaving data scattered across separate sets of documents.

For exporting businesses, the value of the system lies not only in its ability to track raw material origins but also in its capacity to establish links between data from different stages of production. When information on inputs, transportation, procurement and processing is fully recorded, businesses will be better prepared to provide documentation for origin verification and will have a stronger basis for demonstrating the origin of goods in accordance with the requirements of individual markets.

However, digitalization can only deliver its full benefits when all stakeholders across the supply chain participate in updating information. In particular, the earliest stages, including forest planting, harvesting and raw material procurement, need to be closely monitored. If input data is incomplete or inconsistent, processing and exporting businesses will find it difficult to prepare complete supporting documentation when verification is required.

Alongside improvements to the management system, expanding markets remains an important task for the wood industry. Dien said the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment would continue coordinating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop focused, targeted and long-term trade promotion programs to help businesses promote the image, brands and products of Viet Nam’s wood industry.

He also noted that the development of the timber trade is closely linked to forestry development and forest protection. Viet Nam currently has more than 4 million hectares of planted forests, which supply approximately 70-80% of the raw materials used by the wood processing industry. Therefore, expanding exports not only generates foreign exchange earnings but also contributes to sustainable forestry development and the protection of forest ecosystems.

With export turnover exceeding USD 15 billion in the 10 months of 2026, the wood industry's challenge is no longer limited to increasing output or expanding markets. It must also strengthen its capacity to manage raw material sources and demonstrate product origin. When traceability data is comprehensively established, production records are transparently managed and rules of origin are properly applied, C/Os can become an effective tool for helping businesses make better use of trade preferences.

Origin transparency, therefore, is no longer simply a matter of completing documentation at the final stage of the export process. It must begin with raw material management and production organization. This is also the foundation for Vietnamese timber to enhance its reputation, strengthen its competitiveness and achieve sustainable development in international markets.