Policy Consultant

INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT SCOPE OF WORK

To support the development of regulations on traceability and specimen marking of timber and forest products in the Circular replacing Circular 27/2018/TT-BNNPTNT

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A. DAI ORGANIZATION AND VALUES

DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine and project operations worldwide. We tackle fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action—action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world.

DAI and its employees are committed to confronting racism and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work. DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner.

DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All of our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks. 

B. PROJECT BACKGROUND

The USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project (the Project) will work with the Government of Vietnam (GVN) to reduce carbon emissions associated with deforestation, the degradation of natural forests, and poor plantation management. The Project will implement a “Green Prosperity” approach that strengthens local communities’ ability to protect their natural resource base and reduce emissions while building a strong foundation for sustainable livelihoods and equitable economic growth.

The Project will work in seven provinces (Lao Cai, Son La, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Quang Nam) and focus on five objectives:

1. Improve and expand community forest management
2. Increase conservation-friendly enterprises in forest-dependent communities
3. Increase functionality of law enforcement system for forest crimes
4. Improve production forest management practices
5. Mobilize domestic resources for forest management and protection

The Project will be implemented during the period 2020-2025 by DAI in collaboration with RECOFTC and Preferred by Nature as partners, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) as the counterpart and the Management Board of Forestry Projects (MBFP) as project owner.

C. DESCRIPTION OF CONSULTANCY SERVICE:

I.               BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

1.1.      Background

On November 16, 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) issued Circular No. 27/2018/TT-BNNPTNT regulating the inspection and traceability of forest products (hereinafter referred to as Circular 27) to guide: i) the order and procedures for harvesting common forest plants and common forest animals; ii) the documents required for legal forest products, inspection of traceability of forest products; iii) marking specimens of species on the list of endangered, precious and rare forest plant and animal species; wildlife species included in the Appendices to CITES Convention; finished timber products for buying and selling.

Circular 27 basically ensures the requirements of reducing and simplifying administrative procedures, making it more open compared to the previous regulations, thus creating favorable conditions for business activities, exploitation, production, trade, import and export of forest products. On the other hand, Circular 27 stipulates required documents for legal forest products for the entire domestic timber supply chain (exploitation, transportation, trading, and wood processing), which is one of two important legal documents that regulate the legal records for the entire supply chain, thereby contributing to ensuring legality of imported, produced and exported from Vietnam and respond to the Vietnam Timber Legality Assurance System (VNTLAS) among other country commitments.

However, as reflected by many provinces, due to the openness of regulations in Circular 27, local authorities are facing many difficulties in the management, monitoring, inspection and supervision of timber exploitation. The statistics and reports on timber production from plantation forests are not submitted timely, complete, and true to the actual volume of timber harvested. In many localities, there has been the situation where legalization of forest products without legal origin in production and business activities.

MARD has recently issued its Decision No. 5254/QD-BNN-PC dated 31 December 2021 on the Plan of developing legal documents of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2022, which specifies that a new Circular will be developed to replace Circular 27. Following MARD’s Decision, VNForest assigned the Forest Protection Department (FPD) to act as the focal point for developing a new Circular to replace Circular 27.

1.2.      Policy gaps: Traceability and specimen marking of timber and forest products

In the new context, where forestry sector is defined as an important economic sector with increasing volumes of import and export of timber, timber finished products and many other kinds of forest products, there is a demand to reduce administrative requirement and procedure to the optimum level, thus reducing the private sector’s unnecessary costs and effort. On the other hand, legal regulations must support the effectiveness of state management to ensure the legality of forest products and their traceability as required by the national legal framework and that of the importing country (such as the Lacy Act of the US; Japanese importation certification requirements, e.g., certification specially for pellets and other wood products; Australian import controls  or international agreements such as VPA/FLEGT, CITES Convention, of which Vietnam is committed to. It is therefore important to identify an appropriate level where the demands of all parties are met.

In addition, digitalization in the management of both enterprises and the concerned state management agencies is now strongly encouraged by the Government of Vietnam and the forestry sector itself as a measure to strengthen the effectiveness of management and cost reduction. The application of digital coding methods such as bar code, QR code provides good options for marking the specimen of timber, timber products and forest products for the purpose of tracing the origins and legality and geographical indication of such products.  In the transitional period from manual coding and recording to digitalized management, the policy makers also need to balance between the available infrastructure with legal regulations on specimen marking and traceability.

1.3.      Technical support from SFM Project and GIZ

Upon request of VNForest, the USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project and the GIZ’s Project “Support the Implementation of VPA/FLEGT Agreement” will support FPD with the development of the new Circular, in which

• GIZ provides 02 consultants to analyze and map the timber traceability in Vietnam and outline requirements for a digital timber traceability system (Desk study)
• USAID SFM Project provides 01 consultants to proposing specific legal provisions to regulate the traceability and specimen marking of timber and forest products in a feasible, operational and cost-effective manner while meeting the demands of the private sector, management agencies and international business partner countries.

This SOW describes specific tasks of the consultant recruited by USAID SFM Project.

2.          OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

2.1.      Overall Objective

Support FPD to develop the regulations related to traceability and specimen marking of timber and timber products being imported and produced domestically to ensure their legality by revising and replacing the Circular 27/2018/TT-BNNPTNT in order to overcome difficulties, obstacles and inadequacies in the implementation of the Circular in practice, ensuring compliance with relevant legal documents, especially Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP dated 1 September 2020 of the Government stipulating the Vietnam Legal Timber Assurance System and the VPA/FLEGT Agreement.

2.2.      Specific Objectives

• Propose regulations on the traceability based on the existing studies commissioned by GIZ, the assessments/reviews made by the consultant during this consultancy and other available sources to ensure the legality of timber and timber products exported from and imported to Vietnam in order to sufficiently address the current legal gaps; ensure the legality and consistence with relevant legal documents of Vietnam and its timber importing countries; and in a cost-effective manner.
• Propose regulations on specimen marking of timber, timber products traded domestically and internationally for the purpose of traceability and geographical indication that are applicable in the transitional period from semi-manual management to digitalized management using modern and cost-effective technologies that fit the capacity of the private sector and state management agencies (MARD, VNForest)

3.          SCOPE OF WORK

• Consolidate related legal regulations and reports on the traceability and specimen marking of timber and timber products produced in, imported to and exported from Vietnam. Conduct own research by attending the consultation field trips and events to collect data, information and inputs for the development of the regulations on traceability and specimen marking of timber, timber products and forest products.
• Review the current capacity of the private sector and of concerned state management agencies to proposed feasible, operational regulations on the specimen marking system and mechanism using modern cost-effective technologies and allowing the traceability and geographical indication of key timber and forest products.
• Review the most common export and import timber and forest products to propose types of timber and forest products that need to be included or excluded from traceability based on considering risk and specimen marking to encourage market development and reduce costs and effort of the private sector and concerned state management agencies.
• Attend technical meetings of the Editorial Team and support the development of the related regulations in the new Circular and some associated documents.
• Consolidate and use inputs collected from the works listed above as evidence to provide recommendations and propose relevant regulations (in the forms of Articles, Clauses, Points).

4.          SPECIFIC TASKS

The consultant will discuss with FPD and DAI at the beginning of the assignment to get common understanding and agreement on the objectives, scope of work and priority contents of the assignment. He/She will then work closely with FPD and DAI throughout the implementation of this assignment.

4.1.      Consolidate and review related legal regulations and reports on:

• Forestry Law and Decree 156/2018/N?-CP dated 16/11/2018  and related legal regulations on the traceability and legality of Vietnam and its major timber importing countries. These include, but not limited to Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP,  Circular 21/2021/TT-BNNPTNT VPA/FLEGT Agreement, Lacy Act etc.;
• Assessment report on the results of implementing Circular 27/2018/TT-BNNPTNT; study on analyzing and mapping the timber traceability in Vietnam and outlining requirements for a digital timber traceability system (commissioned by GIZ); and other existing reports on the implementation of Circular 27/2018/TT-BNNPTNT, Decree No. 102/2020/ND-CP, especially the reports on the value chains of timber, timber products, forest products being produced and traded domestically, imported and traded internationally;
• Traceability and specimen marking of timber and forest products in the key markets of Vietnam’s timber products such as the EU, the US, Japan, other markets that require third party international certification (such as FSC) and CoC standards.
• Other related documents on timber and forest product management and traceability.

4.2.      Collect additional information and data on traceability and specimen marking of timber, timber products and forest products through field surveys and consultation events:

• Develop data collection tool(s) and get agreement from the focal points of GIZ and DAI
• Participate in consultation field trips and events to collect required data and information; collect comments; discuss and clarify comments:
  
  • 01 - 02 field trips to 02 Project provinces
  • 02 one-day Technical Meetings in Hanoi 
  • 01 one-day National Consultation Workshop in Hanoi
  • Other technical meetings: In addition to the two Technical Meeting and National Consultation Workshop mentioned above, the consultants will also attend different technical meetings at smaller scale with VNFOREST, FPD, DAI and other concerned Departments of MARD and VNForest to complete his/her tasks.
• The consultant will review the study “Analyzing and mapping the timber traceability in Vietnam and outlining requirements for a digital timber traceability system” and discuss with the focal points of GIZ, DAI and GIZ’s consultants to have common understanding and agree upon the findings of this study; collect additional information and data on aspects of traceability that has not been sufficiently covered by the results of the mentioned desk study.
• Identify types of major timber products and forest products being produced, traded, imported, exported and the stages of their producing and trade to propose:
  
  • What types of timber, forest non-timber products and timber or plant species should be addressed as subjects for traceability and specimen marking to support market development, reduce illegal wood trade, reduce costs and effort of the private sector and state management agencies and ensure the feasibility and operationality of the management system? What should not? (Example for consideration and further study: non-timber forest products coming from natural and plantation special-use and protection forest; timber and non-timber products coming from production forest).
  • Mechanism of specimen marking: at what stage of the business process that specimen marking is applied? responsibilities of timber and forest products producers, traders, management agencies?
  • Method of specimen marking: what methods can be applied in the transitional period from manual to digitalized management? Needs for centralized electronic data base management system tailored to control imports and exports and inter-phasing with provinces; what advanced and cost-effective methods (for example: bar codes, QR codes) that are compatible with the concerned state management agencies’ capacity and infrastructure (such as the existing FORMIS system and/or the Forest Violations Database Management System for Vietnam’s Forestry Sector, which is being developed with support from DAI).

4.3.      Propose and justify specific regulations related to the issues mentioned above:

• Develop and propose corresponding Chapters, Articles, Clauses, Points to regulate the issues mentioned above; discuss with FPD, Editorial Team and DAI to finalize the regulations and include them in the Draft Circular. This includes the traceability of timber and forest products from natural forests forest of Vietnam to prepare the country for exporting timber products when the logging ban is totally or partially lifted.
• Review, finalize the documents and templates needed to trace and control timber products in domestic market and international market (for example: templates for producers, processors, traders, transporters/logistic companies …), which are drafted by the GIZ’s consultants and incorporate forms, templates approved by VNFOREST into the Circular.
• Consolidate, review and respond to comments from different stakeholders at consultation events, technical meetings and in the dossier submitted to authorized bodies for appraisal (Legal Department of MARD) and approval (VNForest, MARD)

5.          LOCATIONS

Hanoi and 02 Project provinces (to be identified later)

6.          CONSULTATION TIME (LOE) AND DELIVERABLES

Remarks:

• Consultant submits Deliverables D1, D5, D9, D13 in Vietnamese and English
• Other Deliverables are submitted in Vietnamese only
• D1 – D10 are approved by FPD and DAI; D11, D12 and D13 must be approved by FPD, CPMU and DAI

D. QUALIFICATIONS

E. HOW TO APPLY AND REQUESTED DOCUMENTS

Individual interested candidates are requested to submit:

• Updated CV in English and Vietnamese
• Cover letter in English indicating why the applicant is suitable for this position along with current contact details of at least three referees in English or Vietnamese
• Scanned copy of highest related degrees
• Similar consultancy projects/reports completed before either in English or Vietnamese
• Technical proposal in Vietnamese to carry out this consultancy assignment (approach and implementation plan)

via email to our recruitment email at [email protected] [1]. Please quote the position title in the subject line: “Candidate’s full name _ Policy expert _ Circular 27”

Deadline for application: 5.00 p.m. (Hanoi time), April 11, 2022

Remark: If being recruited, the candidate will have to provide DAI with a release letter with authorized signature and stamp from current employer to certify that candidate will not receive salary from current employer during the implementation of this consultancy assignment. This release letter is required for candidate who are currently working for government agencies only.

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DAI is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer with a commitment to diversity. DAI does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, parental status, veteran status, or other non-merit factor