Firms keep bringing in teak
US importers still receiving wood from Myanmar despite coup sanctions, report says
BANGKOK — American companies are still importing teak from Myanmar despite sanctions imposed after the military seized power last year, a recently released report based on trade data said.
Teak is one of the most valuable hardwoods, used in home flooring, doors, window frames and furniture. Myanmar is the biggest producer of the wood, even though its natural forests are dwindling.
American importers were still receiving shipments of teak as recently as December even though sanctions were put in place in April, data from the Panjiva global trade database show. Similar trends have been reported from Europe.
The human rights group Justice for Myanmar is urging the U.S. and other governments to crack down on the teak trade in line with sanctions against the country’s military leadership.
Those U.S. Treasury sanctions, announced last April, ban dealings with Myanmar Timber Enterprise, a stateowned company under the country’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. It alone oversees exports of timber and sells to private companies through auctions.
The sanctions ban all transactions with the company or people connected with it by U.S. people and companies. It also imposed sanctions on the military-appointed minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.
The European Union imposed similar sanctions in June. It also bans dealings with Myanmar’s Forest Products Joint Venture Corp.
Yet, sales and shipments of teak and other valuable hardwoods to the U.S. have continued. The timber arrived in 82 different shipments from last Feb. 1 to Nov. 30, mainly teak boards and other wood items used in shipbuilding, outdoor decking, construction and furniture.
By buying through intermediaries, the importers are skirting the sanctions, the report contends.
“Considering that sanctions aim to block trade with MTE, and the timber exported from Myanmar is originally auctioned by
MTE,” the military still receives funds from the trade “no matter who officially exports the timber,” the report said.
It urged the U.S. government to enforce the sanctions and to investigate possible breaches of the restrictions.
It is not clear exactly where the teak ends up, since it is imported by suppliers of timber for construction and other manufacturers.
Myanmar’s military, headed by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, deposed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy last Feb. 1. Suu Kyi was arrested and charged with about a dozen crimes. On Monday, the 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was sentenced to four more years in prison, on top of the two-year sentence she was ordered to serve from earlier cases.
The military takeover has drawn nonviolent nationwide demonstrations, which security forces have quashed with deadly force, killing more than 1,400 civilians, according to a list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Timber is one of resource-rich Myanmar’s most valuable industries, bringing in millions of dollars a year in taxes and export revenues.