Huong Khe Businesses Association has called for help to deal with the crisis.
Quynh Nga Company is having many difficulties recently after Laos issued a moratorium on the export of logs and timber in a bid to reduce rampant and widespread illegal wood trading.
Tran Phat Dat, the company's director and head of Huong Khe Business Association, said they had signed contracts worth USD2m with Lao companies before the ban was issued. They already transferred the money and most of the work was done. But now the shipment can't be exported and Lao companies haven’t returned the money.
"We took high-interest bank loans so we are in trouble now. The factory has stopped working and most of our employees have been laid off. We may go bankrupt," Dat said.
According to Dat, about 40 firms in Huong Khe also import timber from Laos and are facing difficulties. "If Lao companies don't export the wood then many companies like us will go bankrupt," he said.
In addition, Dat said they also had difficulties with some procedures in Vietnam to use the imported timber such as Circular 4 issued in February by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to protect wild animal and plants following the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Thousands of cubic metres of timber can't be used
Dang Tat Dat, head of the legal department of Huong Khe ranger unit, confirmed that there are thousands of cubic metres of timber from Laos left in the inventory because of the lack of permits.
He said, "The wood are imported years ago, when the circular hasn't been issued, but now the permit is required."
Dinh Van Hoa, deputy head of Ha Tinh Customs Department, said he understood the situation and would propose solutions.