Is the movement of the European Commission on “bloody plywood”

The European Commission has published an alert regarding the illegal import of birch plywood from Russia and Belarus, which violates the sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. We recently informed about the case in the reportage of Filip Folczak in “Supervisor”. “Russian and Belarusian producers use the services of companies from third countries that repack and label their products again,” it was alerted. According to Earthsight, the ecological organization is the first time in history when this kind of alert regarding breaking sanctions appears.

European Commission On Friday, she published a message about the EU Sanction Alert related to the occurrence of a high risk of circumventing sanctions.

The announcement explained that “plywood – in particular birch plywood – is the main source of income for Russia and Belarus.” “EU sanctions prohibit the purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly, plywood and other wooden products from Russia or Belarus or exports from these countries. Related services are also forbidden, including mediation, logistics support and storage” – we read.

It was noted that “Russian and Belarusian producers use the services of companies from third countries that repack and label their products again.” “These companies are trying to hide the real origin of products,” it was noted.

How? The announcement says that “these companies are trying to hide the real origin of products, providing false or misleading documents, including invoices, certificates of origin, evidence of the place of collection and independent certificates of third parties, e.g. green label.” “Goods are sent by land, rail or sea,” we read.

See the whole alert (in English) >>>

Recommendations of the European Commission

The EC information emphasized the need for “due diligence” in this matter.

“Increased due diligence in the origin of imported plywood is definitely recommended,” it was said. This applies to both main players on the EU market and warehouse owners or final product users.

The commission indicates what can be a warning signal that should pay attention to:

• Product: birch plywood,
• Manufacturer/exporter in China, Kazakhstan, Turkey or another country with: commercial connections with Russia or Belarus and/or with a sudden, recent increase in the export of plywood to the EU,
• processing operations that are not economically justified,
• illogical logistics routes.

The EC emphasizes that legal responsibility should be borne by anyone who breaks sanctions – regardless of whether he does it consciously or unconsciously. The EC indicates that brokering, logistic support and storage of goods are also illegal. “Voluntary disclosure can be a soothing factor” – he added.

Tara Ganesh from the International Ecological Organization Earthsight commented on the Friday commission report for tvn24.pl.

– We are satisfied with this new document guidelines. It must serve as a warning for EU companies that can no longer refer to ignorance of the real origin of the plywood he bought – she said.

In her opinion, “the Commission must now propose an extension of sanctions for products made of Russian and Belarusian wood in third countries, which the European Parliament appealed to this week.” She also emphasized that the alert “is a strong signal for all law enforcement agencies, such as the National Tax Administration in Poland, that they should take all possible steps to stop this illegal trade.”

“Bloody plywood from Russia”. In “Supervisor” with leaking sanctions

The EC also noticed that smuggling was recently the subject of journalistic materials and reports of non -governmental organizations.

At the beginning of March, Filip Folczak, in cooperation with the international ecological organization Earthsight, in a report for “Supervisor” entitled “Bloody plywood from Russia” He showed how, despite the sanctions on the Russian Federation, imposed after assaults to Ukraine, Russian birch plywood easily and almost without any obstacles goes to the Polish and European market. And the wood industry has in Russia Strategic significance, like the arms and mining industry.

In the Friday message of the EC, there are countries through which plywood can be smuggled – Kazakhstan, Türkiye, China. In the report of “Supervisor” we showed what this practice looks like in practice.

According to information obtained by Folczak, to the Union, including Poland, transports with smuggled from Russia and Belarus plywood. As the journalist and the author of the report noted, the Friday Alert is to be a form of pressure on government institutions that can not realistically deal with this problem (in the case of Poland it is the National Treasury Administration), and at the same time a very clear warning for smugglers.

Project tightening sanctions

In addition, on March 11 a draft of the European Parliament resolution appeared, which called the EC and Member States to tighten sanctions in connection with plywood smuggling.

The document reads, among others, that the European Parliament “calls the Commission and Member States to develop wider sanctions for Russian and Belarusian wood, including in particular the ban on importing or purchasing wooden products processed in countries outside the EU, which includes wood from Russia or Belarus, in particular Brzozowa plywood.”

The project was signed by MEPs of both the Civic Coalition and Law and Justice.