EU-Indonesia FLEGT VPA

Indonesia and the European Union work together to stop illegal logging and its associated trade

Illegal logging has a devastating impact on some of the world's most valuable remaining forests, and on the people who live in them and rely on the resources that forests provide. In 2003, the European Union published the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan. This Action Plan sets out several measures to tackle illegal logging in the world’s forests and foster good forest governance.

One of those measures is the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). The VPA aims to halt trade of illegal timber and ensure that only verified legal timber and timber products are placed on the EU market. It is a legally binding trade agreement between the EU and a timber exporting country. Indonesia and the European Union signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on 30 September 2013 and the bilateral Agreement came into force on 1 May 2014.

An important foundation of the VPA is the Indonesian timber legality assurance system or Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu (SVLK). The system assures that timber and timber products harvested, processed in and exported from Indonesia originate from legal sources and comply with Indonesian laws and regulations.

Indonesia and the EU are currently implementing the Agreement. For more information on progress of the VPA and Indonesia’s SVLK.