Workers collect latex at a rubber plantation in Gia Lai province. (Photo: VNA)Globaldemand for sustainable natural rubber has been increasing and expanding. Vietnamis the third-largest natural rubber producer globally.
"However,the rubber area in the country under sustainably certified is verysmall. There’s no FSC-certified rubber in Vietnam by now. This is amissed opportunity for the country," according to Dr To XuanPhuc, a policy analysis expert at Forest Trends.
Theexpert made his statement at the workshop themed "Vietnam SustainableNatural Rubber" held recently both online and offline in Hanoi byForest Trends, Yulex LLC and business and community leaders.
Theworkshop presented hurdles restricting rubber growers, including rubbercompanies and smallholders, from pursuing sustainable rubberproduction and discussed solutions for addressing those hurdles.
"Globalmarkets are demanding certified natural rubber. Vietnam, thethird-largest rubber producer in the world, should not be lefteconomically behind," said Phuc.
Theexpert affirmed that sustainable natural rubber production in the future was aninevitable direction for Vietnam. It will open opportunities for thecountry to improve its economic value per output product whilehelping ensure compliance with stringent environmental and socialrequirements in production.
However,assessing the world market demand for sustainable natural rubbers, Phuc saidglobal rubber consumption was changing a lot. Regulations on the legality andsustainability of input rubber materials are increasingly strict, anddemands for sustainable natural rubber also exist in the country.
Thereare currently two sustainability certification systems in the world: PEFC(Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) and FSC (ForestStewardship Council).
TheFSC criteria are considered to be more stringent than that of PEFC.
Vietnamhas developed a national Forest Certification System (VFCS) currentlyrecognised by PEFC.
Upto now, the country has about 97,300ha of rubber area granted VFCS certificate,all belonging to state-owned companies.
Despitethe rapid expansion of certified acreage, it is still not commensurate with theindustry's potential, the workshop heard.
Allsmallholder areas have not been certified so far. Thisproves some of the current limitations of the industry.
Thereason is that many of the smallholders have not been interested in producingcertified rubber. Moreover, there is a lack of information, and many businessesonly focus on exporting to markets that do not require certifications likeChina.
Inaddition, the industry's current supply chain is complex, including a mix oflarge and smallholder components depending on domestic and imported sources.This makes traceability – which underpins the assessment and recognition ofcertificates – difficult and even impossible in many cases. The sector'sinternal linkage chain is still loose and unsustainable.
Accordingto Phan Tran Hong Van, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam RubberAssociation (VRA), the pressure of sustainable development has pushed thesector to continuously strengthen its role in improving the environment andsocial conditions in the rubber planting area.
Tocope with current issues, the VRA has proposed an action plan for the rubberindustry to sustainably develop, encouraging members to soon buildsustainable development programmes under their own conditions.
TheVRA has also built and developed the certificate label "Cao Su Vietnam/VietNam Rubber" for the quality and prestige products. Up to now, thelabel has been granted 82 product items for 29 factories belonging to 17companies.
YulexLLC - a global company, using sustainable natural rubber with FSC - hasconducted surveys on several rubber companies and smallholders to set up linksand promote sustainable rubber production in Vietnam.
Thecompany made strong commitments to purchasing Vietnamese output productsat a higher price than the market price of normal rubber if producerscan sustainably supply natural rubber sources, especially those with FSCcertificates.
Dr ElizabethBui from Yulex LLC said: "Smallholders in Vietnam are the backbone of thecountry's rubber production, and Yulex is committed to ensuring that they areincluded in the economic upside with their participation in producingsustainable rubber."
Topromote the development of the rubber industry and to make it continuouslycontribute to economic development, it is necessary to havesupportive policies from the Government at the same timeas determination of businesses and organisations and individuals toimplement sustainable development programmes, the workshop heard.
TheState needs to create a legal framework for strengthening andencouraging management models of sustainable rubber forests withagroforestry closely connected with environmental protection in the directionof national or international quality certifications.
Arepresentative of Lien Anh Rubber Production Co., Ltd. mentioned difficultiesin the link between businesses and smallholders, saying 87 percent ofsmallholder rubber gardens with a planting area of less than 3ha whilethose with over 10ha account for only 1.5 percent.
"Latextrading through intermediaries still makes up a majority, so farmerseasily break their commitments with purchasing companies to sell latex todifferent traders. Therefore, it is necessary to have a mechanism to supportlinkages between smallholders and their business partners under transparencyand with fewer intermediaries to ensure fairness, legality, and clearorigin," said the company representative.
Phucsaid: "For promoting sustainable natural rubber in Vietnam, besidessolving the mentioned limitations, it is necessary to carry out supportprogrammes for the connection between potential business partners such asYulex, Weber & Schaer as well as Vietnamese companies with smallholderrubber households."
Theexpert gave an example of success in the wood industry, which has implementedvery effective linkage models to "create FSC certified timbersources."
Therubber industry could learn from the model of the wood industry, Phucsaid.
Export potential
Likesome other agroforestry sectors, the development engine of Vietnam's rubberindustry is based on rubber exports, including the current two main itemsof natural rubber and rubber products.
Thecountry's export makes up 17.4 percent of the global total rubbertrade, with a turnover of the rubber industry in 2021, including naturalrubber, rubber products and rubber wood, reaching 9.5 billion USD, up 20.8percent compared to 2020.
Naturalrubber exports reached more than 1.9 million tonnes in 2021, bringing inrevenue of nearly 3.3 billion USD, up 11.7 percent in volume and 37.5 percentin value over the previous year, thanks to an average export priceincrease of 23 percent.
Exportturnover of rubber products in 2021 reached 3.7 billion USD, up 18.5 percent comparedto 2020. Rubber wood exports also achieved over 2.5 billion USD, accounting for17.1 percent of total export turnover from wood and wood products, an increaseof 6.9 percent compared to 2020.
Lastyear, Vietnam's rubber area was about 939,000ha, making up 7.2 percent ofthe total global area. Its rubber latex harvest reached 1.26 million tonnes in2021, accounting for 8.7 percent of global rubber production withan average yield of 1,682kg/ha, ranking first in Asia.
Phucsaid, among that figure, rubber area owned by large holders (State-ownedcompanies) made up 455,000ha, equivalent to nearly 48 percent of thetotal rubber area of the country.
Theremaining 477,000ha, or 52 percent, was owned by farmer households orsmall-scale companies known as smallholders.
Inthe smallholder rubber area, farmer households own about half of thetotal. The rest belongs to state-owned companies (nearly 40 percent) andprivate ones (10 percent), according to Phuc./.
VNA
