International timber trading under sanctioning regimes: the role of technological innovation

Abstract

This paper examines how the forest sector is affected by the sanctioning regimes created by governments to deal with ongoing international emergencies and which role innovation and technology could play in implementing restrictive measures. Particularly referred to as international trading, one of the sectors affected by restrictive measures is the forest industry, specifically importing and exporting timber. The first part focuses on the current legislative framework of the European Union to pinpoint the critical regulatory issues under consideration and, given the information mentioned above, the flaws in the sanctioning regimes. The second part, more in-depth, introduces innovation and technology (e.g., blockchain) as a tool that can be used to implement the regulatory design of economic sanctions. By analysing the current use of blockchain in the forest industry, this paper tries to identify its potential and any problematic issues that could arise to hypothesise future research activities.