Swedish officials prosecuted Almtra Nordic for trading Myanmar teak, which is against European Union Timber Regulation rules banning placing illegal or high-risk wood on the EU market, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency.
The EUTR requires wood products companies in the EU to demonstrate who harvested timber or where it was cut prior to purchase from the supplier, the state-operated Myanmar Timber Enterprise.
Swedish courts ruled that the documentation from the Myanmar Timber Enterprise did not meet the due diligence requirements of the EUTR, and Almtra Nordic is now banned from placing Myanmar teak on the EU market until it can provide documentation that satisfies the EUTR, the EIA said.
“The ruling means no Burmese teak can be legally placed on the EU market until the Myanmar Timber Enterprise addresses illegality and transparency within the supply chain,” said Peter Cooper, EIA forest campaigner, in a statement.
The MTE said in a statement that while its systems are capable of tracking timber exports back to specific forest areas, it cannot always access chain of custody documentation in cases where there are multiple timber sources, and some timber processing facilities lack infrastructure to prevent the mixing of wood from different areas, which muddies the chain of custody.
"We are committed to improving our systems so that our exporters can clearly demonstrate to their customers that all our timber product exports comply with our laws," the statement said.
Updated Nov. 21 to include a statement from the MTE.
