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The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) has issued an import warning to TTF members using birch plywood from the Far East. The warning said: The dispute between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for nearly six months, but there is little sign that the conflict between the two countries will end. And stressed that even though grain exports have begun to recover, timber is still under export "sanctions".

TTF specifically mentioned the birch plywood on the market. Although the UK had imported a lot of birch plywood before the "sanctions", they found that as of now, there are still suppliers in the timber industry importing birch plywood.

TDUK members reported an increase in bids for birch plywood from the Far East, especially China.

TTF believes that birch forests are basically concentrated in northern Russia and Eurasia, while the natural growth of birch in China is prohibited from logging, and China has not imposed relevant "sanctions" on Russia. So TTF said: It is almost certain that the birch wood contained in the plywood they import actually comes from Russia.

Although the birch plywood was imported from China, the association said it was illegal to import any timber originating from Russia and Belarus into the UK or EU countries.

This also means that any member or non-member who imports birch plywood from outside the EU faces a high risk of violating the British system. To address this, TDUK is writing directly to organisations supplying birch plywood to let them know about UK and EU sanctions.