On 1 February, the Myanmar military (also known as the Tatmadaw) overthrew the Government of the country and arrested its leadership, events which radically altered the context for addressing the problem of illegal timber sourced from the country
In 2013, after years of campaigning by EIA and others, the European Union brought in new laws to combat illegal timber trade
Our position is absolutely clear – EIA will not support any trade in timber and wood products originating from Myanmar
Traders are paying to ship illicit Myanmar teak into Europe via the back door, skirting EU import rules to get their hands on the valuable timber for high-paying clients
Two years after a seizure of timber by the Myanmar Forest Department at the port in Yangon, the incident has led to nine people being sentenced to 10 years each in prison for timber smuggling
A Dutch court has ruled that importers of teak from Myanmar must be able to trace the legality of the luxury timber all the way back to felling