Timber Risk Score: 56 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Italy for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:
- Specified risk for 12 sub-categories.
- Low risk for 7 sub-categories.
- No legal requirements for 2 sub-categories
This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in Italy.
31% (9.29 million ha) of Italy is covered by forests of which:
- About 1% is primary forest
- About 92% is naturally-regenerated forest
- About 7% is planted forest.
Roundwood production totalled 5 million m3 in 2015. The forestry sector (including wood processing and pulp and paper) contributed US$ 15.0 billion to the economy in 2011, which was nearly 0.8% of the GDP.
Several legality risks are present in Italian timber supply chains. The risks relate to legal rights to harvest, taxes and fees, timber harvesting activities and trade and transport. If you are sourcing timber from Italy you should take care to ensure the risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated.
There are currently no armed conflicts in Italy according to the Council on Foreign Relations' Global Conflict Tracker.
FSC Certified Forest Area: 66,357 hectares (4 December 2019).
PEFC Certified Forest Area: 881,069 hectares (31 December 2019).
Information Gathering
Timber sources
- Find out the different sources of legal timber
- Determine which source type your timber comes from
| Timber source | Description of source type |
|---|---|
|
Private industrial timber |
Timber from private forests with industrial timber production. |
|
State/Public industrial timber |
Timber from state forests with industrial timber production. |
| Coppice forest (Firewood) | Timber harvested in coppice forest and used for firewood. |
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment summary
|
Legal rights to harvest
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Taxes and fees |
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Timber harvesting activities |
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Third parties' rights
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Trade and transport |
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Risk Mitigation
Mitigate the risks in your supply chain
Learn which actions we recommended to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sources from Italy.
Source Certified Materials
NEPCon believes that third party certification (for example FSC and PEFC certification) can provide strong assurances of the legality of the products they cover. Companies seeking to mitigate the risks of sourcing illegal timber should seek to purchase third party certified materials wherever possible.
While the European Timber Regulation does not include an automatic “green lane” for certified products, it does recognise the value of certification as a tool for risk assessment and mitigation. The European Commission says that companies “may rate credibly certified products as having negligible risk of being illegal, i.e. suitable for placing on the market with no further risk mitigation measures, provided that the rest of the information gathered and the replies to the risk assessment questions do not contradict such a conclusion.”
For more information on using certified materials in your due diligence, including how to assess whether a certification system meets EUTR requirements, see the page on Certification and Due Diligence.
Mitigation recommendations
Below is a summary of our recommended actions to mitigate the risks associated with timber sources from Italy.
1. Fully map your supply chain
- Our supply chain mapping tool can help you do this.
2. Obtain and verify documents
- Forest level documents
- Forest Management Plan
- Any alternative management tool/plan that, according to regional/local legislation, is equivalent to a forest management plan
- Approved Harvesting permits
- Protected areas management plans and/or impact assessments performed by managing entities shall be collected and recorded when timber comes from protected areas
- Tax related documents
- Sales documents containing applicable sales taxes. Sales volume shall match/not exceed volume to be harvested on the harvesting permit
- Receipts for payment sales taxes
- Employment related documents
- Employment contracts
- Payslip
- Trade and transport documents
- Trade permits shall be clearly linked to the specific material in question
- Due Diligence System procedures in accordance with Regulation (EU) 995/2010 (EUTR)
3. Consult stakeholders
- Local authorities in charge of assessing/approving forest management plans confirm status of Forest Management Plan
- Financial authority confirms that all required income and profit taxes have been paid
- Authorities in charge of managing protected areas confirm that no infringements have take place
- Staff and contractors confirm that legally required protection equipment is required/provided by the organisation
- Staff confirm that working conditions meet legal requirements
- Representatives of relevant labour unions confirm that working conditions meet applicable legal requirements and there are no substantial conflicts in place
4. Carry out on-site verification
- Confirm that harvesting takes place within limits given in the harvesting permit
- Confirm that information regarding area, species, volumes and other information given in the harvesting permit is correct and within limits prescribed by legislation
- Confirm that harvesting does not take place in prohibited areas
- Confirm that tree species or selected trees found within the FMU for which felling is prohibited are listed in operational plans and marked in the field
- Confirm that harvesting restrictions are observed in the field
- Confirm that environmental restrictions are followed in the field, such as requirements related to soil damage, buffer zones, retention trees, seasonal restrictions etc.