TRAFFIC brings Cameroon and Viet Nam together to build a shared approach to legal timber trade
A visit to Hanoi brought two governments, one at each end of the tropical timber supply chain, closer to a formal agreement to keep illegal timber out of trade.
Illegal timber thrives where countries do not coordinate and where checks do not match the rules applied in the country of harvest in the countries that process and sell the wood. Closing that gap requires governments to work together, and TRAFFIC is helping Cameroon and Viet Nam to do so.
On 15–17 September 2026, TRAFFIC supported a visit to Hanoi by officials from Cameroon's Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF), the government body that manages the country's forests and regulates its timber trade. They met the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST), which oversees forest management and the timber trade under Viet Nam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. The visit forms part of TRAFFIC's efforts to strengthen legal and sustainable timber trade between producer, processor and consumer countries. The activity was supported through the Congo Basin Action and Cooperation on Timber Trafficking project, funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and contributes to objectives under TRAFFIC's From Forest to Market project, supported by the UK's Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme.
Dr Nguyễn Văn Diện, Deputy Director General, VNFOREST with Mr Mouncharou Ndjayou Georges Collins, Head of the Cooperation and Programming Division, MINFOF
The visit builds on a 2023 law-enforcement exchange in Yaoundé - supported by the former TRAFFIC project “Leveraging legality along China's timber supply to reduce deforestation”, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), where Cameroon’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife pointed to discrepancies between the two countries’ recorded timber trade volumes and called for closer collaboration between their administrations. TRAFFIC has since supported talks towards a memorandum of understanding on legal timber trade and sustainable forestry, including a side meeting in Libreville, Gabon, in May 2026.
This MoU aims to strengthen government-to-government information sharing, legality verification and enforcement cooperation across the tropical timber supply chain, contributing to more transparent, legal and sustainable timber trade”
said Denis Mahonghol, TRAFFIC’s Central Africa Office Director.
Over three days, the two sides compared how each country governs its forests and timber trade. They also worked through the draft of a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) on forestry cooperation, which would set out how the two countries work together on legal and sustainable timber trade. They agreed on revisions and a timetable for an updated draft. TRAFFIC is providing technical support, including on how the MoU should address cooperation data and intelligence and on CITES, the convention that regulates international trade in protected species.
At the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences, researchers presented their work on timber identification and traceability. Both delegations discussed joint research, training and wood processing as areas for future cooperation.
The delegation also visited Van Diem, a village outside Hanoi where timber is made into furniture whose small processing units make furniture for the domestic market, largely from timber imported from Africa, including the Congo Basin. How these units source their wood affects legality along the chain from the Congo Basin to Viet Nam.
Timber processing in Van Diem, near Hanoi, Viet Nam
Small-scale processing units in Van Diem understand the importance of compliance and are committed to processing only legal timber from African countries, especially the Congo Basin”
said Linh Nguyen, Programme Officer, TRAFFIC.
The Viet Nam Administration of Forestry is committed to working with the Government of Cameroon to ensure strong compliance with timber legality, from sourcing through to processing units in Viet Nam”
said Nguyen Van Dien, Deputy Director General of VNFOREST, who headed the Vietnamese delegation in the MoU discussions.
As highlighted by MINFOF in its dedicated press release “Cameroon-Vietnam: Strengthening cooperation to combat illegal timber trade”’ : “As the two countries prepare to formalise their forest cooperation framework, this visit has laid the foundation for long-term collaboration to benefit forest conservation, sustainable economic development and the integrity of international timber markets”.
For Cameroon, the visit showed where its timber goes after export. For Viet Nam, it provided direct contact with a source country on shared legality challenges. Cooperation of this kind is how commitments on sustainable trade are put into practice.
Tom Osborn, From Forest to Market Global Project Manager, TRAFFIC said
This MoU is a real opportunity to go beyond a formal agreement. We see it becoming a working channel through which Cameroon and Viet Nam regularly share information, strengthen legality checks and act together to reduce the risk of illegal timber.”
Both governments are now working to finalise the MoU, which would give their cooperation a formal framework.
About FGMC
The Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) flagship global forest governance initiative. A global programme supporting governance and market reforms aimed at reducing the illegal use of forest resources, benefitting poor forest-dependent people, promoting sustainable growth and climate change mitigation in developing countries.
About Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL):
Funded by the United States Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The opinions, finds and conclusions stated herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.
The mission of INL is to minimise the impact of international crime, such as money laundering and criminal gangs, and illegal drugs on the United States, its citizens, and partner nations by providing practical foreign assistance and fostering global cooperation. Visit the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)'s website.
Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative
NICFI is administered by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and the Environment in collaboration with Norad – The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. The initiative supports bilateral agreements with forest countries, multinational organisations and civil society.
