Top-Importer of Brazilian Leather and Frozen Beef: Italy

By Sarah Drost and Rita Raleira

AidEnvironment’s risk profile of Italy  highlights that in 2023, the country ranked third among the EU’s top five importers of key commodities targeted under the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), bringing in approximately 11.6 million metric tons (MT) of goods like leather, palm oil, and coffee from non-EU countries. These imports make up 13% of the EU’s total non-EU imports in these categories.

Italy stands out as:

• Leather: Being a top-importer of leather products, Italy imports more than half (50.6%) of all cattle products that are being imported in Europe from non-European countries. Brazil is Italy’s largest supplier of leather hides and frozen beef. This is major risk since up to 80 percent of Amazon deforestation is attributable to the cattle sector. Cattle is also a key contributor to land conversion in the neighbouring Cerrado Biome. Read more about the role of Italy and leather in this joint report by Rainforest Foundation Norway and AidEnvironment.
• Palm oil: Italy imported 1.8 million MT of palm oil products in 2023, representing 19% of the EU’s total, sourcing predominantly from deforestation-risk countries Indonesia, Malaysia, but also from several Latin American countries including Honduras, Guatemala and Colombia. This is relatively little compared to palm oil imports in a country like the Netherlands (42%), but relatively big compared to various other EU member states, including Germany (10%).
• Coffee: Italy is also a large importer of coffee. With 23% of the EU’s coffee imports, Italy is one of the leading EU countries, sourcing heavily from deforestation-risk countries Brazil, Vietnam, and Honduras.
• Cocoa: on the contrary, Italy imports relatively little cocoa products (4%) compared to the Netherlands (44%) and to lesser extent Germany (14%).

Italy’s extensive trade ties, especially with cattle products originating from Brazil, will come under scrutiny as the EUDR will enforce strict regulations against deforestation-linked imports from 30 December 2025, pushing the nation to navigate compliance within complex supply chains.