Due Diligence, Certification and Legality Verification of Timber from the DR Congo - Country-focused commodity analysis in the context of the Bio-Macht project

Oct 3, 2026

This report reviews due diligence, certification, and legality verification schemes for timber from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Illegal logging and timber trade create major social, environmental, and economic impacts, including deforestation, degradation, biodiversity loss, and resulting climate effects. The European Union Timber Regulation (2010) sets mandatory due diligence for EU timber imports, while FSC and PEFC address key sustainability hotspots. The study extends beyond the EU downstream view to upstream DRC legality mechanisms and briefly compares with Ghana’s governance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 41 min

AccessFree to download

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Abbreviations

Abstract

1. Background

2. Timber in the context of the DR Congo

3. International Forest Certification and Protection Schemes

4. European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan

5. Due Diligence in the Context of the DRC

6. Timber Governance in Ghana and the DR Congo

7. Conclusions & Outlook

Due Diligence, Certification and Legality Verification of Timber from the DR Congo Country-focused commodity analysis in the context of the Bio-Macht project Freiburg, December 2019 Project-ID: 031B0235B Authors Tobias Schleicher, Öko-Institut e.V. Fafali Ziga-Abortta, Öko-Institut e.V. Klaus Hennenberg , Öko-Institut e.V. Head Office Freiburg P.O. Box 17 71 79017 Freiburg Street address Merzhauser Strasse 173 79100 Freiburg Tel. +49 761 45295-0 Office Berlin Schicklerstrasse 5-7 10179 Berlin Tel. +49 30 405085-0 Office Darmstadt Rheinstrasse 95 64295 Darmstadt Tel. +49 6151 8191-0 [info@oeko.de](info@oeko.de)[ ](info@oeko.de)[www.oeko.de](www.oeko.de) Country Partner Réseau pour la Conservation et la Réhabilitation des Ecosystèmes Forestiers (Réseau CREF) Table of Contents List of Figures 5 List of Tables 6 List of Abbreviations 7 Abstract 8 1. Background 8 2. Timber in the context of the DR Congo 9 2.1. Overview 9 2.2. Timber Species from the DRC 11 2.3. Companies & DR Congo’s role on the world timber market 11 2.4. Export of Timber from the DRC 12 2.5. Illegal Logging & Trade 13 3. International Forest Certification and Protection Schemes 14 3.1. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) 14 3.2. Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) 15 3.3. Evaluation of Certification Schemes 15 3.3.1. Evaluation Method 15 3.3.2. Results 16 3.4. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 18 4. European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan 19 4.1. Due Diligence in the European Union Timber Regulation 19 4.1.1. General Information 19 4.1.2. Due diligence system in practice 19 4.1.3. Case Study: FSC certification as a vital contribution to risk assessment and risk mitigation in DDS 20 4.1.4. The information obligation 20 4.1.5. The risk assessment obligation 20 4.1.6. The risk mitigation obligation 21 5. Due Diligence in the Context of the DRC 21 5.1. Due Diligence for Conflict Minerals and Timber from the DRC 21 5.2. Risk Assessment for Timber from the DRC 22 5.2.1. Background 22 5.3. Legality Verification Systems 23 5.3.1. Mandatory Legality Verification (MLV) 23 5.3.2. Voluntary Legality Verification (VLV) 24 5.3.3. Definition of Legality under the FLEGT-VPA and the EU Timber Regulation 24 5.3.4. Requirements for Chain of Custody 25 5.3.5. Stepwise Technical Support Programs 26 5.4. Case Study: The SGS Legality Verification System 26 5.4.1. General Information 27 5.4.2. Components of the System 27 5.5. Comparison of Legality Verification Systems 30 6. Timber Governance in Ghana and the DR Congo 34 7. Conclusions & Outlook 36 References 38 List of Figures Figure 2-1: The Congo River Drainage Basin 10 Figure 2-2: Export of Forest Products from the DRC 12 Figure 5-1: Generic Timber Supply Chain 28 Figure 5-2: Barcode tag provided by SGS 28 Figure 5-3: Sample of a FLEGT-Licence 29 List of Tables Table 2-1: Official Timber Production and Trade Balance 10 Table 2-2: Timber species exploited in the DRC between 2013-2016 11 Table 2-3: Estimated Market Shares of Timber logging companies in the DRC 12 Table 3-1: Evaluation method: Applied criteria 16 Table 3-2: Results of the evaluation of FSC and PEFC Criteria 17 Table 5-1: Differences in Due Diligence in the supply chain of Conflict Minerals and Timber 22 Table 5-2: Related Reports on high-risk of sourcing Timber from the DRC 23 Table 5-3: Lists of Voluntary Legality Verification Systems in the DRC 24 Table 5-4: FLEGT Legality Assurance System vs. Voluntary Legality Verification Systems 25 Table 5-5: Comparison of Legality Verification Systems 31 Table 6-1: International Comparison of Timber Legality Governance 35 List of Abbreviations CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CoC Chain of Custody DDS Due

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the report on DR Congo timber?

The report reviews due diligence, certification, and legality verification schemes for timber from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and evaluates how these mechanisms address illegal logging and trade risks.

How does the EU Timber Regulation relate to due diligence for timber imports?

The report explains that the EU Timber Regulation, launched in 2010, sets mandatory due diligence requirements for timber imported into the EU.

Which certification and legality verification approaches are assessed for the DRC context?

It covers internationally recognized sustainability certification schemes (FSC and PEFC) and various legality verification systems developed to support due diligence and legality verification in the upstream DRC supply chain.

Oct 3, 2026

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