US firms break sanctions to importing illicit ‘blood teak’ from Myanmar

The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has today named 12 major American timber firms importing teak from Myanmar since the start of the 2021 military coup, including several major yacht decking companies.

The companies are named in the report Acts of Defiance II – US companies break sanctions to import teak from Myanmar.

A redacted version of the report was published in December 2022, with the identities of the 12 provided separately to US authorities, including the Department of State and enforcement agencies, to give them the opportunity to investigate and act.

The 12 companies named in Acts of Defiance II, and the volumes of Myanmar teak they have imported, are:

• East Teak Fine Hardwoods – 1,357.95 tonnes.
• J. Gibson McIlvain Co Inc – 1,200.83 tonnes.
• Florida Teak (importing as Global Dynamics Capital, LLC) – 151.85 tonnes.
• World Panel Products Inc – 62.51 tonnes.
• Hardwood Co Inc – 41.05 tonnes.
• Yacht Deck – 29.06 tonnes.
• Teakdecking Systems – 25 tonnes.
• Techtona LLC – 17.72 tonnes.
• Lumberbest Co Inc – 17.42 tonnes.
• Kingsley Bate Warehouse – 14.04 tonnes.
• Roberts Plywood Co – 13.32 tonnes.
• Cft Cargo Inc – 1.56 tonnes.

“The US Government needs to show political will and leverage its resources to enforce sanctions and the US Lacey Act 2008 to stop the trade in illicit timber and profits supporting the criminal, brutal Myanmar regime and its cronies,” says EIA forests campaign leader Faith Doherty.

“It’s no secret what’s happening, and it’s not complicated – but without action, it’s no wonder US-based traders blithely continue to import Myanmar’s blood teak when they know there will be no consequences for them. That is not acceptable.”

In March, the Forest Stewardship Council urged boatbuilders to ‘pay more attention’ to timber origins as it launched a new industry initiative focusing on the impact of the yachting industry on the world’s forests.

Myanmar is one of the world’s biggest producers of high-quality natural teak, prized for its water-resistant properties and much sought-after for decking and fixtures on the superyachts of the wealthy.

But teak imports into America are de facto prohibited by US sanctions; the species also cannot be traded in compliance with the amended Lacey Act, which bans imports of goods in violation of any foreign law protecting or regulating plant species.

However, EIA investigators found many of the US timber importers were seeking to circumvent the law by using the ‘stockpile narrative’, a sleight-of-hand in which they claim their teak was purchased from Myanmar stockpiles and paid for before sanctions were imposed in April 2021. EIA says it has seen no evidence that this is the case.

Since EIA published the first version of this report, 308.24 tonnes of Myanmar teak were imported into the US. If deforestation in Myanmar continues at its current rate, the country’s forests will disappear by 2035.

Doherty adds: “The US Government must act against all those involved in the trade of blood timber from Myanmar, using the full weight of the law to prevent profits from timber supporting the military regime and its cronies.”