On December 6, 2023, the Asia-Pacific Forest Network Management Center of China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Secretariat of Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC) had an exchange meeting that focused on the recent activity organized by the GGSC Secretariat as well as hot topics in the timber industry. The meeting was attended by the members of GGSC Secretariat, and the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Forest Network Management Center, including the center’s Director Hu Yuanhui, and other two officials. Ms. Jin Hongman, a specially appointed expert of the Economic Data Center at Tsinghua University and former Deputy Director of the Statistics Department of China’s General Administration of Customs, also attended the meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Secretary-General Luo Xinjian of the GGSC Secretariat, who first expressed a warm welcome to Director Hu and his team, and thanked the Asia-Pacific Forest Network Management Center for their trust and support to the GGSC Secretariat.

The exchanges began with a presentation by Ms. Gao Xuting, Head of the GGSC Liaison Department, who introduced the main activities and outputs of the Global Legal & Sustainable Timber Forum (GLSTF) 2023. Ms. Gao introduced that the GLSTF, co-hosted by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), and organized by the Secretariat of the Global Green Supply Chain Initiative (GGSC), has been successfully held in Macao, China on November 21-22. It was the first thematic conference in Macao with "Timber Industry" as the main theme, bringing together about 700 representatives from 36 countries and regions. Mr. Ho Iat Seng, Chief Executive of the Macao SAR, presided over the opening ceremony, and leaders such as Mr. Zheng Xincong, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR, and Mr. Liu Xianfa, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macao SAR, also attended the opening ceremony. During the GLSTF, a main forum, four specialized sub-forums, and three side meetings were held; The outputs of a number of major international collaborative research projects were released for the first time at this year’s forum, including the “Establishment and Operation of the Global Timber Index (GTI) Platform” and the “Research on the Collaborative Operations of the Blockchain-based Timber Traceability System (BTTS)”; During the two-day event, representatives from the industry in several countries signed the “Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) for Sustainable Forest Management and Responsible Timber Industry Operations” and the cooperation agreement for Green Finance for Green Supply Chains (GF4GS) Action; In addition, through a number of B2B matchings and the Legal & Sustainable Timber Industry Display, many cooperation opportunities and intentions were brought to participants.

After learning about the main activities and outputs of the GLSTF, Director Hu congratulated the GGSC Secretariat on the successful organization of the Global Legal & Sustainable Timber Forum (GLSTF) 2023. He acknowledged the strengths of the GGSC Secretariat in organizing international forums, coordinating international resources, and engaging with enterprises. He also proposed suggestions and ideas for the GGSC Secretariat to bring together more resources in future related work.

During the meeting, representatives from all parties also discussed and exchanged views on the influences of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) on timber trade and enterprises. The EUDR officially entered into force on June 29th, and will become applicable around the end of 2024. In line with the vision of the Global Green Supply Chains Initiative to "connect stakeholders in the forest industry and promote harmonious coexistence between humans and the nature," the GGSC Secretariat will continue to be concerned about the EUDR and has conducted various forms of research on it. Dr. Meng Qian from the GGSC Secretariat presented the potential impacts of the Regulation discovered during the research, as well as relevant concerns, confusion, and needs of timber enterprises in various countries. Finally, Director Hu summarized the meeting and put forward suggestions and expectations for the future work of the GGSC Secretariat.