Head of Louis Vuitton tannery leads fight to gut EUDR

Global Witness reports that Fabrizio Nuti, head of LVMH-owned Nuti Ivo and leader of the UNIC and COTANCE industry associations, is leading a campaign to exempt leather from the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The report alleges that Nuti's separate Paraguayan tannery, Lecom/Parpelli, sources hides from meat giants Minerva Foods and Frigorífico Concepción, which are linked to the deforestation of approximately 111,000 hectares in the Gran Chaco, including lands of the Indigenous Ayoreo Totobiegosode People. Despite LVMH's public zero-deforestation targets, the report finds that Nuti Ivo's Conceria Everest imported hides from Lecom/Parpelli as recently as December 2025, and that Nuti Ivo can only trace 45% of its hides to a specific slaughterhouse.

• Fabrizio Nuti, who leads the LVMH-owned Nuti Ivo and holds leadership roles in the UNIC and COTANCE industry associations, is actively lobbying to remove leather from the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), describing the law as "a very serious problem for our industry".
• Industry associations UNIC and COTANCE spent a combined €1.5 million on EU lobbying over five years and held at least 16 meetings specifically regarding the EUDR, deforestation, or leather since 2021.
• LVMH has met with European Commission officials to discuss the "simplification" of the EU Green Deal, which NGOs argue is a method of weakening environmental legislation.
• Fabrizio Nuti's Paraguayan tannery, Lecom/Parpelli, is at high risk of sourcing hides from farms responsible for an estimated 111,000 hectares of deforestation in the Gran Chaco between 2021 and 2026.
• Deforestation linked to the supply chains of Minerva and Frigorífico Concepción overlaps with the territory of the Indigenous Ayoreo Totobiegosode People, despite the area receiving protected status from the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in 2016.
• Contrary to claims that Nuti Ivo stopped sourcing from Paraguay in 2024, import data shows its Conceria Everest tannery imported wet blue hides from Lecom/Parpelli in December 2025.
• Nuti Ivo exhibits significant gaps in supply chain traceability, with a Leather Working Group assessment showing it can only trace 45% of its hides to a specific slaughterhouse.

APA

Global Witness (2026). Head of Louis Vuitton tannery leads fight to gut EUDR. https://globalwitness.org/documents/1013/Head_of_Louis_Vuitton_tannery_leads_fight_to_gut_EU_deforestation_law.pdf

Chicago

Global Witness. Head of Louis Vuitton tannery leads fight to gut EUDR. 2026. https://globalwitness.org/documents/1013/Head_of_Louis_Vuitton_tannery_leads_fight_to_gut_EU_deforestation_law.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=Head of Louis Vuitton tannery leads fight to gut EUDR |date=April 2026 |url=https://globalwitness.org/documents/1013/Head_of_Louis_Vuitton_tannery_leads_fight_to_gut_EU_deforestation_law.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitness2026head, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Head of Louis Vuitton tannery leads fight to gut EUDR}}, institution = {Global Witness}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://globalwitness.org/documents/1013/Head_of_Louis_Vuitton_tannery_leads_fight_to_gut_EU_deforestation_law.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }