Directive No. 7/LS-CNR on further improving the quality of exploitation design to meet the new requirements of the Government for protecting, managing, and using timber and forest products.

DIRECTIVE

OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Regarding the enhancement of exploitation design quality
to meet the new government requirements for protecting,
managing, and using timber and forest products

Implementing the policy to restore order in forest exploitation, we have achieved significant progress over the past few years. The situation of forest owners exploiting forests arbitrarily, easily starting but difficult to stop, not targeting the correct types of forests, cutting repeatedly... in state-owned areas has decreased significantly.

However, the Ministry assesses that the changes above still do not meet the new and urgent requirements of the State, especially in managing and protecting rare and precious wood.

In addition, the State management of non-state-owned areas remains lax and has not firmly brought them under management as with state-owned areas. This is the main cause of disorder in forest management and protection, specifically manifested in the widespread occurrence of floating timber, which leads to the inability to fully control the exploitation and use of timber and forest products by enterprises, particularly those processing and exporting wood and forest products.

To continue improving the quality and restoring order in forest exploitation as stipulated by the Forest Protection and Development Law, in the coming years, the Ministry will implement the policy that all economic sectors (all types of enterprises) must equally fulfill their responsibilities in implementing the obligations of forest protection, management, and development - without distinction between state-owned and non-state-owned entities. Among these, state-owned organizations must truly be the core in enforcing the Law.

For now, the Ministry requests all units engaged in business, using forests, and utilizing timber and forest products to strictly comply with Decree No. 18/HĐBT dated January 17, 1992 on precious wood, Directive No. 90/CT dated March 19, 1992 on urgent measures to halt deforestation, and recently, Urgent Circular No. 69 dated March 18, 1993 issued by the Prime Minister.

The preparation for exploitation in 1994 will be carried out as follows:

I. REGARDING THE DESIGN FILE FOR REVIEW

1. For state-owned entities: Continue to implement what was done in previous years. Specifically, follow the guidance provided in the following documents:

+ Document No.: 1331/LS-CN dated May 21, 1987.

+ Directive No.: 02/LS-CN dated May 14, 1991.

+ Directive No.: 05/LS-CN dated July 23, 1991.

+ Document No.: 1138/LS-CN dated June 15, 1992.

Pay special attention:

* Previously, only natural forests and state-owned planted forests were considered, but from now on, attention must also be given to community-planted trees, scattered plantations, forests transferred to cooperatives, bamboo forests...

* Previously, only primary harvesting was emphasized, but now thinning and nurturing cuts must also be considered.

* Strictly prohibit designing in special-use forests, protective forests, and forests on rocky mountains.

2. For non-state-owned entities: the design file must also fully implement all steps of work as with state-owned areas; however, depending on specific circumstances of each unit and case, the number of tables, maps, and explanations may be reduced. But it is mandatory to adhere to the principle: "To extract wood, firewood... from the forest, there must be a design file approved by the competent authority."

And the review file must include at least the following documents:

+ A cover letter with a summary explanation.

+ Detailed tables on location, area, yield.

+ A map at a scale of 1/5000 or 1/10000.

This year, the Ministry will decisively not approve any design files that deviate from regulations or lack the guiding documents.

A design file meeting the requirements must satisfy all provisions of an annual production and business plan as guided in Directive No. 02-LS/CNR dated May 14, 1991 and Document No. 1138-LS/CNR dated June 15, 1992, including synchronized plans: Harvesting - Silviculture - Construction of exploitation areas - Processing - and Consumption Export.

II. SELECTION OF HARVESTABLE TREES

Must be of appropriate diameter class, harvestable trees must be evenly distributed across the entire area, must meet the allowable cutting intensity, prescribed rotation period, standards, procedures... Strictly prohibit selecting only high-value wood groups. Therefore, in exports, units must proactively request customers to purchase low-grade wood groups as well. The Ministry will limit the volume of export contracts that solely use high-grade wood.

For the time being, in 1994, continue to suspend the exploitation of 13 types of rare and precious woods belonging to Group II.A as listed in Decree No. 18-HĐBT dated January 17, 1992.

At the same time, due to the continued failure to effectively curb deforestation, some localities still allow exploitation and loosen management, allowing units, individuals, and bad actors to exploit, transport, and illegally export rare and precious woods (especially Pơ-mu), and clear forests for shifting cultivation, destroying even forests on rocky mountains... Therefore, in 1994, the Ministry of Forestry will temporarily suspend the exploitation of wood groups I and II according to the current classification, and permanently suspend the exploitation of mountain rock wood until further notice.

In cases where enterprises (already granted and currently applying for business licenses for processing) need to use wood groups I and II (common use) and rare and precious woods belonging to Group II.A, localities and units must separately tally these for the Ministry of Forestry to compile and seek permission from the Prime Minister. The Ministry of Forestry will issue guidelines after obtaining approval from the Government.

III. REGARDING THE EXPLOITATION QUANTITY IN 1994

To implement the Prime Minister's Directive on halting deforestation, the total national wood exploitation volume in 1994 will remain at the level of 1993 - approximately 620,000 cubic meters³ of large wood and 220,000 cubic meters³ of small wood from planted forests - (and will adjust some provinces and units reasonably but not exceed the 1993 production volume).

Wood belonging to Groups I and II and rare and precious woods belonging to Group II.A will be recorded if there is a market, but must be tallied separately and not included in the total permissible large wood exploitation volume.

IV. CASES OF FIELD EXPLOITATION ADJUSTMENTS
HIỆN TRƯỜNG KHAI THÁC

Lessons learned from last year show that some units have not strictly followed approved documents but instead requested adjustments to the site after approval. Therefore, it is required that the heads of units must rigorously review design documents of facilities before submitting them for higher-level approval. The Ministry will only consider adjustments at the end of the second quarter (except in special cases).

In cases where the approved production volume or area has not been fully exploited and needs to be transferred to the following year, a separate supplementary table must be compiled with detailed explanations as previously instructed - and it is essential to have confirmation from the local forest protection unit.

V. REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY ON LOT AUCTIONS AND STANDING TREE PRICES
LÔ CÚP VÀ THỰC HIỆN GIÁ BÁN CÂY ĐỨNG

The Ministry issued Directive No. 02-LS/CNR dated May 14, 1991 on lot auctions and Circular No. 02-KTTC dated January 18, 1992 temporarily regulating standing tree prices. Recently, there was also Directive No. 03-KTTC dated March 17, 1993 on implementing the policy on standing tree prices.

To implement this policy, units must calculate all production costs per unit of product (tons, etc.) up to the delivery point, serving as a basis for gradually implementing lot auctions and determining standing tree prices.³ Timber and forest products are considered lawful only after they have been issued a resource tax receipt, and for timber, the forestry inspection stamp must be affixed on trees as stipulated in Circular No. 08-LN/KL dated April 25, 1992 and Circular No. 13-LN/KL dated October 12, 1992 of the Ministry of Forestry.

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Attached hereto is the schedule for reviewing harvesting design and forest preparation work for 1994.

Units are required to adhere to the specified schedule so that the Ministry can timely compile and submit to the Government and relevant sectors by the end of October 1993. Any delays will be the responsibility of the localities and units.