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A new report by EIA documents a large-scale illegal logging operation inside the Munduruku Indigenous Territory and traces more than 25,000 cubic meters of illicitly harvested timber through Brazilian supply chains to importers in France, Germany, Portugal, and the U.S. The investigation reveals how the weak enforcement of existing laws and ongoing delays to the EU Deforestation Regulation are allowing illegal Amazonian wood to continue flowing into international markets.
Yet another report of Russian wood entering European supply chains despite sanctions.
The oligarch Alexei Mordashev, who runs Russia’s largest timber company and is also a close confidant of Vladimir Putin, is the main beneficiary of the timber deals.
After the start of the Ukraine war, Mordashov and Russian wood were sanctioned to keep the material out of the European market. However, research by SWR shows that trade via China will continue. Trade data show that with the start of the war, timber imports from China, especially to Poland, have risen massively.
Internal documents of a Russian timber company also reveal how wood is redeclared in China in order to then reach the EU unhindered.
SWR was able to use a hidden camera to document how dealers advertise plywood with “Russian quality”. Among traders, this is considered a synonym for wood from Russia. The Chinese subsidiary of a German-Swiss toy manufacturer also attracted attention – the company Hape International in Ningbo, China.
The example of Poland shows that countermeasures can work. Through targeted training for customs officials, including by Paged employees, Russian deliveries at the border could be identified and stopped. Since then, illegal imports from China have collapsed drastically. With the collapse of Chinese deliveries to Poland, import volumes via Spain and Portugal have multiplied since the beginning of the war.
The investigation shows that Russian plywood is being smuggled en masse into numerous EU member states and that efforts by authorities to clamp down have been woefully inadequate. As a result, illegal blood-stained birch worth over 1.5 billion euros has been sold in Europe since sanctions took effect.
Piecing together information from insider leaks, trade documents and clandestine calls, we reveal the actorsThe investigation shows that Russian plywood is being smuggled en masse into numerous EU member states and that efforts by authorities to clamp down have been woefully inadequate. As a result, illegal blood-stained birch worth over 1.5 billion euros has been sold in Europe since sanctions took effect.
Piecing together information from insider leaks, trade documents and clandestine calls, we reveal the actors at every stage of the supply chain – from the manufacturing giants in Russia, through to the firms laundering their products in China, Kazakhstan and Turkey, and their customers in the EU.
at every stage of the supply chain – from the manufacturing giants in Russia, through to the firms laundering their products in China, Kazakhstan and Turkey, and their customers in the EU.
Amazon timber from carbon credit projects targeted by the Brazilian Federal Police was sold to companies in Europe and the United States. The group is suspected of land-grabbing and laundering timber from Indigenous territories and protected areas.
Most of the exported timber belongs to the almost-extinct ipê species and was sent to a company in Portugal. The group is also suspected of using fake documents to launder cattle raised in illegally deforested areas.
Key Resources
Methodology
Data Tools
Click here to access the Global Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (ILAT) Risk assessment tool and to download the Forest Trends User Guide describing the functionality of the ILAT Risk Data Tool.
Click here to access the Cattle Data Tool.
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