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Italy
Risk Score
38.1
Risk Profile
Medium Risk
Conflict State
No
Import Regulation
Yes
Latest Updates Click for latest news from Italy
August 13, 2024
Central/West Africa: Weakening demand in international markets

Operators across the regional have signalled a significant weakening of demand in international markets. Some mills servicing the Chinese market have temporarily ceased operations due to falling Chinese timber imports, others, have pivoted production to species in demand in the EU notably azobe for the Dutch market and timbers such as padouk for Belgium, agba for Portugal and bahia for Italy.

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May 25, 2024
Myanmar’s Teak Surge: Why Italy is EU’s Smuggling Hotspot

The Irrawaddy River is a flashpoint for conflict timber, with more than 100 tons—and sometimes up to 300 tons—of teak and other species leaving Myanmar ports every week.

The teak is then traded into Western Markets (including Italy, teak’s entry point into the EU) via China, India and Indonesia, with proceeds used to fuel both sides of the conflict.

Yesterday, Mynamar officials announced that more than 1,600 tons of teak (more than 250 tonnes a week) had been confiscated over the past six weeks, in a major escalation in the trade across borders. And that is just the timber, deemed “illegal” by the junta-controlled government – with the hidden trade in teak booming amongst the junta’s allies.

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April 10, 2024
Greenpeace Report:

A new Greenpeace report, Nature Crime Files – Romania – Greenpeace International, followed the traces to the suppliers of furniture companies, such as  IKEA. By closely examining the entire supply chain, from logging sites to wood depots, including scrutinising transport permits with geolocation attributes, and visiting processing facilities Greenpeace CEE found old-growth or other high conservation value destruction linked to at least seven different IKEA suppliers in Romania. Investigations identified at least 30 IKEA products, and some of IKEA’s well-known furniture, originating from these producers, raising a concern that wood from old-growth forests could ultimately end up in homes all over Europe and beyond.

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March 12, 2024
EU food giants turn blind eye to deforestation in Argentina

This is the second part of a cross-border investigation conducted by Voxeurop and Periodistas por el Planeta into how soy from deforestation-prone areas in Argentina arrives in Europe by exploiting legal loopholes and abusing self-regulation. You can read the first part of this investigation here.

Europe’s food giants turn a blind eye to deforestation in Argentina – VoxEurop

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March 5, 2024
EU efforts to slow the influx of illegal Russian and Myanmar timber marred by poor enforcement

A cross-border probe, led by ICIJ and first published in March 2023, involved 44 media partners globally and documented how Western environmental auditing firms and governments failed to stop the trade of wood logged in conflict zones.

 

The findings supported a June investigation from ICIJ partners Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel, ZDF and others that similarly revealed how Russian timber continued to circumvent the EU’s embargo, making its way into the bloc by routing through countries like China, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

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February 28, 2024
Myanmar’s controversial timber trade persists, despite Western sanctions

Illegal timber from Myanmar  continues to be imported into Europe and the US despite Western sanctions. In Europe, Italy continues to stand out as a destination for teak and other controversial forest products. Between January and October 2023, Italian companies imported more Myanmar wood products than any other European country — about $3.3 million worth — for use in furniture and construction, according to Italian government data analyzed by the national timber trade association FederlegnoArredo.

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May 23, 2023
EU Member states continue to import Myanmar teak despite sanctions

During a virtual meeting of the European Commission’s expert group on protecting and restoring forests on May 4, a representative from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre presented data showing that 13 EU member states had imported Myanmar timber products, which were likely to be teak, in the past year. Italy, France, Poland and Spain topped the list, with Italy importing an amount estimated to be worth more than $20 million since March 2022, according to Eurostat.

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May 16, 2023
NEW REPORT: Russian mercenaries cash in on Europe’s scramble for African timber

Russian mercenaries with close ties to President Vladimir Putin and a logging contractor exposed for funding African rebels help feed a barely-regulated European timber rush in one of the world’s poorest and most fragile countries, according to a new report by Earthsight.

 

New evidence shows that an obscure company reportedly controlled by the Russian Wagner paramilitary group supplied timber to European consumers. The trade embroils a firm listed on London’s AIM stock exchange that was part of a national delegation at the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow.

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September 8, 2021
Firms Flout EU Rules, Turn Italy Into Hotspot for Illegal Myanmar Timber Trade

Negligible fines and inadequate enforcement are turning Italy into a hotspot for illegal Myanmar timber, a new report says.

At least 27 Italian traders have been importing Burmese teak into Europe despite timber imports from Myanmar being against the law.

Italian traders are exploiting the country’s inadequate enforcement to ship timber to the rest of Europe and circumvent the EU’s sanctions and regulations.

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September 1, 2021
Myanmar teak trafficked through Italy

Despite EU laws, the Environmental Investigation Agency reveals that Myanmar teak is still moving through Europe and being used in the yachting industry.

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Key Resources
Click here for a collection of Forest Trends publications related to IDAT Risk, including the full set of Timber Legality Risk Country Dashboards.
Methodology
Click here to download the Methodology which includes information on data sources, the methodology used to create risk indicators, and a glossary of key terms.
Data Tools

Click here to access the Global Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (ILAT) Risk assessment tool and to download the Forest Trends User Guide describing the functionality of the ILAT Risk Data Tool.

Click here to access the Cattle Data Tool.

Export Restrictions
Click here to download a database of forest policy export restrictions.