Vietnamese furniture businesses must embrace global trends

Detailed summary

As the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is set to take effect on December 30, alongside a series of new requirements arising from global economic and geopolitical developments, Vietnamese businesses need to accelerate their adaptation efforts.

According to Dr. Truong Tat Do, secretary of the EUDR Task Force for the Forestry Sector (Department of Forestry and Forest Protection), businesses must be prepared to meet EUDR compliance requirements and ensure transparent traceability of product origins.

“Alongside solutions to support compliance with EUDR requirements, this is an essential digital platform that helps Vietnamese businesses demonstrate the legality of timber origins and minimise risks to their goods when entering the EU market,” Do said at a seminar on Vietnam’s wood and furniture industry on November 12.

Reine Karlsson, CEO of Scale Up Oy Ltd, a company specialising in furniture sourcing across Asia, urged Vietnamese businesses to pay close attention to the distinction between having documentation and maintaining a systematic, verifiable traceability system.

“A single certificate cannot replace a closely linked chain of evidence covering the finished product, production batch, materials, and plot-level data,” Karlsson said.

Accordingly, European buyers now require upstream information to be structured, reliable and capable of demonstrating three key criteria: deforestation-free production, legal sourcing, and systematic due diligence.

Karlsson advised businesses to establish traceability systems before production begins, as this is the least costly stage at which to address data gaps before formally committing to material sourcing.

“EUDR readiness is not a certificate. It is a repeatable supply chain capability. As quality and pricing become increasingly comparable across suppliers, having a transparent supply chain not only reduces barriers for buyers but also directly strengthens Vietnamese businesses’ competitiveness in commercial negotiations,” Karlsson said.

Beyond certification, strategic product readiness to cater to increasingly diverse consumer preferences across different markets is also an important factor.

Tran Lam Son, vice chairman of Thien Minh and standing committee member of the…

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