Myanmar’s illegal timber trade with China has picked up in recent days, after an unexplained halt of several months, a forestry watchdog said on Tuesday.
Global Witness said logging trucks had been crossing to China’s southwestern Yunnan province from northern Myanmar every seven minutes when the London-based group released its previous report in October.
But the forestry monitor said the trade — believed to be worth $300-million per year — had inexplicably stopped for several months before resuming at a slower pace about 10 days ago.
“It is a positive step in the right direction. However, we’re also concerned whether this is simply going to lead to more control by the regime in these areas,” forestry advocate Susanne Kempel told a press conference.
Myanmar forestry officials say they legally export 18 000 cubic metres of timber annually, but Chinese customs officials say they imports about one million cubic metres from its neighbour, Kempel added.
“In the past, they would have … explained that they’re not fully in control of the border areas and therefore cannot close most of it, but these last few months have shown they’ve been able to,” she said.
The watchdog tracked logging trucks and found those entering China were carrying logs from areas under the military’s control, not from regions held by ethnic rebels, Kempel said.
Myanmar’s junta had long denied the trade existed, but has recently begun to acknowledge the problem.
“This has serious repercussions for Myanmar’s economy and for legitimate timber exporters,” Brigadier General Thein Aung, the forestry minister, said in the semi-official Myanmar Times weekly.
“Exporters find it hard to compete with smuggled timber on the international market, resulting in decreasing prices and a decline in production in the wood-based industry,” he said in Monday’s edition. – AFP