The European Commission (EC) has announced an investigation into Russian birch (Betula spp.) plywood imports,¹ following concerns² about rising volumes entering from secondary markets that suggest evasion of 2021 anti-dumping duties, and 2022 sanctions designed to disrupt Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine. World Forest ID has been tracking Russia’s shifting trade and the emerging entry points for wood products into the European Union (EU). This work is designed to assess the risk of fraudulent location of harvest claims to best target enforcement and corporate risk mitigation measures, including scientific testing.
THE INSIGHT SERIES
World Forest ID’s Insight series is designed to communicate the outputs of our long form research in a timely manner, by summarizing data snapshots and interim learning.
This Insight was drafted by Marigold Norman with input from consortium partners. Additional acknowledgements: John Simeone (Simeone Consulting) Naren Ramakrishnan (Virginia Tech) Rosie Sibley and Bogdan Buliga (Preferred by Nature)
1. Official Journal of the European Union commission implementing regulation (EU) 2023/1649 of August 21, 2023. View Document
2. The complaint was raised by Woodstock Consortium, a group of European birch plywood producers “deeply concerned about rising volumes of Russian birch plywood being sold at extremely low prices into the EU.” Learn More
