A new ruling by the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) may partially undo earlier criminal convictions for importing teak from Myanmar in defiance of a previous EU sanctions regime, which could call into question sanctions against conflict and illegal wood.
That is according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (or EIA), which reports that a new ruling by the CJEU conferred that teak taken from Myanmar and processed into sawn wood in Taiwan now conferred Taiwanese origin.
“Could this CJEU ruling lead to more traders arguing that their timber exports from Myanmar were processed into sawn timber in third countries before they were imported into the EU? Potentially,” said Kate Klikis, EIA’s Forest Campaigner:
“This ruling should not be used as an excuse for customs agents to allow teak into the EU from third countries without full scrutiny.”
Kate Klikis, EIA’s Forest Campaigner
The court ruled that sanctions only covered goods “imported into the European Union directly from Burma/Myanmar – and not the 80% that is smuggled across the border and sold from India and China.
“This means a customs authority is not bound by a certificate of origin issued by a third country (in this case, Taiwan) when determining whether to investigate potential sanctions infringements,” the EIA said in a statement, with the soon-to-be-redundant EU Timber Regulation replaced by the EUDR – which obliges EU obliges EU operators to declare the country of harvest for their timber imports as part of efforts to help tackle illegal harvesting and the fight against illegal deforestation.
“EIA believes the CJEU ruling on changes to origin based on levels of timber processing in a third country goes against the spirit of both the EUTR and EUDR.”
The EUA in response to the ruling by the CJEU.
Wood Central understands that the ruling relates to the Hamburg Regional Court’s April 2021 conviction of WOB Timber and Stefan Bührich for imports of Myanmar teak contrary to the previous EU sanctions regime implemented against Myanmar.
“It is yet to be seen how the German court will apply the CJEU ruling, although the result could see the teak shipments imported from Taiwan removed from the conviction, which could, in turn, lead to a reduction in the sentencing by the Hamburg court,” according to the EIA, adding that a reduction in sentencing could set a damaging precedent for future prosecutions of suspected sanctions evasion.
EU sanctions against Myanmar Timber
Following the February 2021 coup, the EU quickly slapped sanctions on Mynamar timbers entering the bloc. This EU sanctions regime (Council Regulation (EU) 401/2013) imposed similar asset-freeze measures to those of the previous regime.
This means that when the state-owned Myanmar Timber Enterprise (or MTE)—which has a monopoly over timber production—was placed on the sanctions list, EU operators were strictly prohibited from making funds or economic resources available to it, and any goods that belong to or are owned by MTE were frozen.
In April this year, EU Directive 2024/1226 was adopted, establishing harmonised rules for criminal offences and penalties for EU sanctions violations. Member States have until 20 May 2025 to implement the new minimum regulations for violations of EU sanctions, including penalties for intentional violations and attempts at circumvention.
Italy is the EU’s top consumer market for Myanmar timber.
In May, Wood Central reported that Italy was now Europe’s number one destination for teak and other controversial forest products. Between January and October 2023, Italian companies imported more Myanmar wood products than any other European country — about $3.3 million worth — used in furniture and construction, according to Italian government data analysed by the FederlegnoArredo – Italy’s national timber trade association.
- To learn more about the trade of Myanmar Teak into Europe and the role of the EUDR in potentially addressing conflict and illegal timbers, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
