The European timber trade regulation EUTR and the FLEGT agreement concluded with Indonesia are causing market shifts to a certain extent, says a survey by FLEGT IMM. Accordingly, less wood is imported from Africa in particular, and substitute products for tropical wood are generally used more often. That was not intended with the introduction of the EUTR, but it turns out to be a side effect. 

In 2013, the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) came into force. The FLEGT Independent Market Monitor (IMM), founded by the EU and operated by the ITTO, has now published results from surveys in 2018 and 2019. Accordingly, the EUTR and FLEGT agreements cause market shifts.

As part of the FLEGT Independent Market Monitor 2018 and the EU Trade Surveys 2019, companies were asked whether FLEGT licensing and the introduction of the EUTR had a direct impact on the share of tropical timber in their total timber imports.