- Environmental law watchdog ClientEarth is demanding immediate action from authorities in Poland to crack down on imports of sanctioned Myanmar teak into the country.
- Imports of the highly coveted timber into Poland persist, the group says, despite EU sanctions imposed on Myanmar’s state-controlled timber monopoly following the 2021 military coup and brutal crackdown on citizens.
- The imports also flout EU Timber Regulations, as well as risk exacerbating high rates of deforestation in the conflict-torn country.
- The continued imports come as Poland assumes a new leadership role on the European Council and delays to the implementation of the EU’s new antideforestation regulations.
Highly prized teak from Myanmar continues to be imported into Poland, despite EU sanctions on the Southeast Asian country’s state-run timber monopoly following the 2021 military coup and violent crackdown on citizens.
Environmental law nonprofit ClientEarth last month formally requested the Polish timber trade regulator urgently inspect firms engaging in the trade and take serious action to prevent imports of the banned timber.
According to data from the Polish Central Statistical Office, the country imported more than $11.5 million worth of Myanmar timber between 2021 and 2024. Most imports were of teak (Tectona grandis), a durable and weather-resistant wood coveted by luxury furniture and yacht manufacturers.
In its formal request to the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, ClientEarth said the persistent trade not only infringes the EU sanctions, but also brings Poland, an EU member state, into violation of the EU Timber Regulations (EUTR). The bloc ruled in 2020 that any import of Myanmar teak into the EU violates the EUTR because it’s not possible to determine whether it was harvested legally.
The nonprofit previously raised a complaint about Poland’s non-compliance with the EUTR with the Council of the European Union in June 2023. However, it said it has yet to receive any response to its complaints, either from Polish authorities or through EU channels.
“The EUTR rules are a key tool in the fight against the trade in illegal timber, but they need to be implemented effectively,” said Ranja Łuszczek, a lawyer at ClientEarth. “The lack of adequate action violates the public interest, contributes to deforestation and supports a brutal regime.”
ClientEarth noted that trading Myanmar teak fuels deforestation and funds the military junta that seized power in a February 2021 coup, which ousted the democratically elected government and led to brutal crackdowns against pro-democracy supporters. The junta controls the Myanmar Teak Enterprise (MTE), a state-owned company with a monopoly over the country’s entire forestry sector.
Environmental groups in Myanmar have experienced multiple challenges in the wake of the coup, stymying their efforts to protect forests and assess deforestation rates. Satellite data indicate the country’s forests are in a precarious position, risking populations of globally threatened species, such as critically endangered Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica), Popa langurs (Trachypithecus popa) and Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti).
Between 2002 and 2023, Myanmar lost 752,000 hectares (1.86 million acres) of intact primary forest, representing a 5.4% reduction in remaining primary forest cover, according to data from Global Forest Watch. If this forest loss trend continues, experts estimate Myanmar’s forests could be wiped out by 2035.
In its complaint, ClientEarth’s urged Poland’s timber regulators to urgently increase their scrutiny of firms engaging in timber trade with Myanmar. It also called for improved timber supply chain monitoring systems, and serious enforcement of penalties against violators of existing timber laws. Łuszczek said this would not only safeguard against sanctioned timber entering the country, but also protect Poland’s domestic wood markets, which supply its booming furniture industry.
“Our goal is that Poland is sufficiently motivated to change its law and dedicate more resources to the competent authorities fighting illegal timber,” Łuszczek said. Whether through informal talks or the risk of infringement procedures from the EU, “we hope that our complaint will now mobilize them to act,” she said.
Several EU member states besides Poland also continue to import Myanmar teak. According to data from the EUROSTAT website, roughly $35.68 million of timber was imported into the EU directly from Myanmar between June 2021 and December 2023. This timber entered through countries including Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.
The actual volumes of timber still reaching the EU are, however, likely to be much higher due to the practice among traffickers of using intermediary countries to circumvent sanctions. India, for instance, has no sanctions in place against MTE and saw its timber exports to the EU rise in value from roughly $525,000 in 2021 to $7.9 million in 2023, according to U.K.-based watchdog the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
While ClientEarth told Mongabay the end destination of Myanmar teak entering Poland remains largely unclear, a 2023 investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed timber traffickers typically exploit countries with weaker enforcement as gateways into the wider European market.
Łuszczek noted that the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which will replace the EUTR, will require national timber regulators to strengthen their monitoring, legal and enforcement efforts. The new rules have been subject to controversial delays due to pushback from governments and industry groups. In November 2024, the European Parliament voted to postpone implementation of the rules, which will regulate not only timber but also a swath of other deforestation-linked commodities, by a year until the end of 2025.
Regulators shouldn’t view the delay as an excuse for inaction, Łuszczek said. Instead, they should be using this time to put adequate systems in place. “The delay means that we potentially still have one additional year of noncompliance, one additional year of illegal timber flowing into Europe through Poland,” she said. “But the EUDR is a great chance for member states to dedicate sufficient resources to make sure they’re complying with their obligations, because they will have to make changes anyway.”
The upcoming EUDR also provides additional access to justice mechanisms, which will require authorities to investigate complaints filed against them. “Right now, the Polish law doesn’t oblige the competent authority to whom we submitted our concerns to act upon them,” Łuszczek said. “But if the EUDR is implemented correctly, in the future, if the authority dismisses our complaints, we can go to court. It won’t just be up to the authority to decide whether to act on the complaint or not. So it’s really important that the EUDR is implemented correctly.”
Poland is currently under an unprecedented level of public scrutiny after taking the chair of the European Council at the start of 2025. Łuszczek said the leadership position should push Polish authorities to show their commitment to good governance by addressing issues in the timber industry. As she put it, “Poland has a legal and moral duty to act.”
Banner image: A timber truck transporting wood from a forest in Southeast Asia. Image by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay.
Carolyn Cowan is a staff writer for Mongabay.
See related story:
U.S. traders flouting sanctions on buying Myanmar teak, report says
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