WHAT IS THE PENALTY FOR DEFORESTATION?

Table of Contents:

1. Prohibited conducts that affect forest resources?

2. What is the penalty for deforestation?

2.1 Administrative sanctions

2.2 Criminal sanctions

2.2.1. Individual criminal responsibility

2.2.2. Legal entities criminal responsibility

1. Prohibited conducts that affect forest resources?

Pursuant to Article 9 of the Law on Forestry 2017, acts of destroying forest resources, forest ecosystems, and forest protection and development works are prohibited as follows:

“Article 9. Prohibited acts in forestry activities

1. Illegally logging, deforesting, exploiting of forest, encroaching, appropriating of forest land.

2. Illegally bringing wastes, toxic chemicals, explosives, inflammables, tools, or vehicles into forests; tending, grazing cattle, livestock in strictly protected zones of special-use forests or in newly planted forests.

3. Illegally hunting, catching, capturing, caging, slaughtering, storing, transporting and trading of forest animals; illegally collecting specimens of forest plant and animal species

4. Illegally destroying forest resources, forest ecosystems, and works in service for forest protection and development.

5. Violating against legal provisions on forest fire prevention and fighting; prevention and control of forest pests and diseases; management of invasive alien species; forest environmental services.

6. Storing, trading, transporting, processing, advertising, displaying, exporting, importing, temporarily importing for re-exporting, temporarily exporting for re-importing, transiting forest products in contravention of provisions of Vietnamese law and international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam is a signatory.

7. Illegally exploiting natural resources, minerals resources and using the forest environment; illegally building works, excavating, digging, construction, digging and excavation, embanking, barricading natural water flows and carrying out other activities in contravention of legal provisions that disrupt the natural landscape structures of forest ecosystems.

8. Illegally allocating, leasing, revoking, re-categorizing forest category, converting forests to other uses; illegally permitting the exploitation and transportation of forest products; illegally changing forest areas; transferring, inheriting, donating, mortgaging, or contributing as capital the value of the rights to use forests or the right to own planted production forests in contravention of legal provisions; practicing discrimination relating to religion, belief, gender in forest allocation and lease.

9. Illegally use of raw materials in processing of forest products.”

2. What is the penalty for deforestation?

2.1 Administrative sanctions

According to Article 20 of Decree 35/2019/ND-CP (amended and supplemented by Decree 07/2022/ND-CP) regulating administrative penalties for violations in the forestry sector:

Individuals who commit illegal deforestation as mentioned in Section 1 (except for illegal forest exploitation as prescribed in Article 13 of Decree 35/2019/ND-CP) without permission from a competent state agency may be fined up to VND 200,000,000.

Organizations that commit forest destruction will be fined double (ie VND 400,000,000).

2.2 Criminal sanctions

2.2.1. Individual criminal responsibility

The crime of forest destruction is regulated in Article 243 of the Penal Code 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017, with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Specifically, violators may be prosecuted as follows:

“1. Anyone who illegally burns, cuts down forests or has other acts that destroy forests in one of the following cases shall be fined from 50,000,000 VND to 500,000,000 VND, subject to non-custodial reform for up to 3 years, or imprisonment from 1 year to 5 years:

a) Plantation forests that have not yet accumulated into wood volumes or regenerating forests with an area from 30,000 square meters (m2) to under 50,000 square meters (m2);

b) Production forests with an area from 5,000 square meters (m2) to under 10,000 square meters (m2);

c) Protective forests with an area from 3,000 square meters (m2) to under 7,000 square meters (m2);

d) Special-use forests with an area from 1,000 square meters (m2) to under 3,000 square meters (m2);

dd) Causing damage to forest products valued from 50,000,000 VND to under 100,000,000 VND if the forests are damaged without being calculated by area;

e) Plants listed in the directory of endangered, precious, and rare species prioritized for protection or in the list of forest plants and forest animals endangered, precious, and rare Group IA valued from 20,000,000 VND to under 60,000,000 VND; or plants in the list of forest plants and forest animals endangered, precious, and rare Group IIA valued from 40,000,000 VND to under 100,000,000 VND;

g) Forest areas or values of forest products below the stipulated amounts in points a, b, c, d, đ, and e of this clause but have previously been administratively sanctioned for one of the acts specified herein or have been convicted for this crime and have not had their criminal records expunged and still re-offend.

2. Committing the crime under one of the following circumstances shall be punished by imprisonment from 3 years to 7 years:

a) Organized crime;

b) Abusing one’s position or power, or using the names of government or organizations;

c) Dangerous recidivism;

d) Plantation forests that have not yet accumulated into wood volumes or regenerating forests with an area from 50,000 square meters (m2) to under 100,000 square meters (m2);

dd) Production forests with an area from 10,000 square meters (m2) to under 50,000 square meters (m2);

e) Protective forests with an area from 7,000 square meters (m2) to under 10,000 square meters (m2);

g) Special-use forests with an area from 3,000 square meters (m2) to under 5,000 square meters (m2);

h) Causing damage to forest products valued from 100,000,000 VND to under 200,000,000 VND if the forests are damaged without being recalculated by area;

i) Plants listed in the directory of endangered, precious, and rare species prioritized for protection or in the list of forest plants and forest animals endangered, precious, and rare Group IA valued from 60,000,000 VND to under 100,000,000 VND; or plants in the list of forest plants and forest animals endangered, precious, and rare Group IIA valued from 100,000,000 VND to under 200,000,000 VND.

3. Committing the crime under one of the following circumstances shall be punished by imprisonment from 7 years to 15 years:

a) Plantation forests that have not yet accumulated into wood volumes or regenerating forests with an area from 100,000 square meters (m2) or more;

b) Production forests with an area from 50,000 square meters (m2) or more;

c) Protective forests with an area from 10,000 square meters (m2) or more;

d) Special-use forests with an area from 5,000 square meters (m2) or more;

dd) Causing damage to forest products valued from 200,000,000 VND or more if the forests are damaged without being recalculated by area;

e) Plants listed in the directory of endangered, precious, and rare species prioritized for protection or in the list of forest plants and forest animals endangered, precious, and rare Group IA valued from 100,000,000 VND or more; or plants in the list of forest plants and forest animals endangered, precious, and rare Group IIA valued from 200,000,000 VND or more.4. The offender may also be fined from 20,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND, prohibited from holding certain positions, practicing certain professions, or performing certain jobs from 1 year to 5 years.”

2.2.2. Legal entities criminal responsibility

For legal entities committing the crime of forest destruction as prescribed in Article 243 of the Penal Code 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017, they shall be prosecuted for criminal liability as follows:

“5. A legal entity committing the crime specified in this Article shall be fined as follows:

a) Committing the crime specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be fined from 500,000,000 VND to 2,000,000,000 VND;

b) Committing the crime under one of the circumstances specified in Points a, c, d, đ, e, g, h, and i of Clause 2 of this Article shall be fined from 2,000,000,000 VND to 5,000,000,000 VND;

c) Committing the crime specified in Clause 3 of this Article shall be fined from 5,000,000,000 VND to 7,000,000,000 VND or suspended from operations for a determined period from 6 months to 3 years;

d) Committing the crime under circumstances specified in Article 79 of this Code shall result in permanent suspension of operations;

dd) The legal entity may also be fined from 50,000,000 VND to 200,000,000 VND, or prohibited from conducting certain business activities, or raising capital from 1 year to 3 years.”