"The Italian Job How Myanmar timber is trafficked through Italy to the rest of Europe despite EU laws", 1 September 2021

An undercover investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency has exposed how an entire industry of Italian companies has continued to profit from the sale of valuable timber from Myanmar, even while many other countries have cracked down on the trade and European authorities agree that importing Myanmar timber is a violation of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). This trade has been allowed to continue since the military coup in Myanmar of February 2021. When asked, no trader confirmed they would stop importing despite the recent introduction of EU sanctions on the Myanmar Timber Enterprise, the state-owned company that claimed to be the only legal source of timber in the country.

The investigation raises serious questions about how Italian and European authorities have allowed the trade to continue, and what action they will take to stop it. Only minimal fines have been imposed on the companies, who have continued to trade despite findings they are breaching the law, and the trade has only continued to increase despite heightened scrutiny on the legal problems with Myanmar timber.

The evidence provided in this report should be used to investigate why the competent authorities in Italy have allowed the continuing trade of Myanmar teak and why Italy as a member state of the European Union has turned its back on the people of Myanmar by failing to act through the use of available laws to stamp out the trade.

The investigation, which lasted 18 months from early 2020, has identified a total of 27 Italian timber traders importing teak (tectona grandis) timber products into the EU from Myanmar despite clear regulations, in the form of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which prohibit such imports.

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EIA provided a right-to-reply opportunity to the following: the Italian companies Basso Legnami, Belotti SPA, F LLI Budai, CF Wood, Comilegno, GTH Italia, International Wood, Miura Friends, Sangiorgi Legnami, Timberlux, TWB Solutions and Swedish company Kärnsund Wood Link, which was listed in trade data as supplying timber into Italy. EIA also offered a chance to comment to the two authorities responsible for enforcing the law in Italy, the Carabinieri Forestali (a branch of the Italian Military Police) and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (MiPAAF).

Of these companies, Basso Legnami, GTH Italia and Kärnsund responded individually, while Bellotti SPA, Comilegno Srl, International Wood Srl, Sangiorgi Legnami SPA, Timberlux Srl and TWB Solutions srl responded collectively. These companies rejected the allegations put to them by EIA, stating they either complied with the EUTR, have had shipments approved by the relevant competent authority or “have never shirked responsibility” from the rules. No companies confirmed they will cease importing teak after the Myanmar coup and the sanctions imposed on the Myanmar Timber Enterprise. Fuller versions of the company’s responses are provided at the end of this report.

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