More than 1,064 tons of illegal or high-risk timber was shipped into the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2013 and 2014 despite the Lacey Act, which bans wood imports from nefarious foreign sources, according to a report from international natural resources NGO Global Witness.
The report went further. After analyzing independent forest monitoring missions in the DRC between 2011 and 2014, Global Witness concluded that “all industrially logged timber being harvested in the DRC and traded internationally should currently be regarded as at a very high risk of being illegal.”
Wood species imported from the DRC include teak, wenge, mahogany and sapele.
Global Witness identified five Congolese companies that export wood to the U.S. and recommended that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service do an investigation of U.S. importers who buy timber from them. The exporting companies are: Cotrefor (or Trans-M), Siforco, Sodefor, Forabola and East Teak Fine.
The U.S. is the 11th largest importer of wood from the DRC. China is the largest, importing more than 156,110 tons between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 29, 2014.
