Europe's changing tropical timber trade, baseline report of the Independent Market Monitoring initiative

30 October 2015

This baseline report was prepared in the inception phase of the Independent Market Monitoring initiative to determine the state of European Union (EU) markets for wood products prior to the issuance of import licences under the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade programme. The Independent Market Monitoring initiative has been established under an ITTO project to support the implementation of bilateral voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) between the EU and participating timber-supplying countries.

The report covers all products within the scope of existing or potential future VPAs, including primary wood products, wooden doors, floors and furniture, and pulp and paper. It focuses on the trade between the 28 EU member states and 17 tropical timber-supplying countries at various stages of the VPA process.

Recognizing that market trends in the EU and VPA partner countries are highly dependent on trade with other regions of the world, the report also puts trade flows between the EU and VPA partner countries in their global context.

Summarized versions of the report are also available in English, French and Spanish