Claudio Feltrin, president of FederlegnoArredo, has addressed a letter to the ministers Maeci, Mase, Mimit, Masaf and European Affairs to open a dialogue and find a synthesis that will give voice in Europe to the alarm of the wood-furniture supply chain in view of the discussion on the application of the Eudr (European Deforestation-freeproducts Regulation).
“In thecoming weeks, important details concerning the application of the European Deforestation-freeproducts Regulation (EUDR) will be under discussion at the European level, which will commit the companies in our sector to conducting due diligence that is totally acceptable in terms of its objectives, but which would oblige them to undertake bureaucratic burdens that are difficult and, in many cases, even impossible to implement, risking the opposite effect to the principles underlying the EUDR itself.
We therefore believe that a constructive dialogue with the ministries involved is essential to protect the work of a sector that has always been attentive to the issue of combating deforestation, but which risks being paralysed and penalised“.
“Although the measure has strongly shareable intentions, in practice it risks having avery high impact both on the national forestry system, on which important development policies are being implemented to increase Italian timber, and on the companies that export their finished products abroad, the true excellence of Made in Italy. In addition to this,” the letter states, ” by limiting the scope of the measure to the EU market only, there is a fear that some operators will decide to transfer their production plants or companies to countries bordering Italy but not subject to the EUDR, such as Turkey or North Africa, thus impoverishing the national supply chains linked to wood and its processing. FederlegnoArredo intends to put in place all the tools that can avert a disastrous outcome for the supply chain, for the protection of the environment and for the competitiveness of our country“.