EU finally bans torture-stained Belarusian furniture trade

The decision will shut down a supply chain long marred by human rights abuses and torture and worth more than a quarter of a billion Euros since the invasion of Ukraine

"The new sanctions are a welcome move. The EU must ensure they are properly enforced."
Tara Ganesh, Earthsight Northern Forests, Timber and Sanctions Lead

Following repeated calls by Ukrainian and Belarusian groups and Earthsight, the EU has banned the import of Belarusian furniture. The decision, published at the end of June, specifically prohibits the import of furniture falling under customs codes 9401 and 9403, included in an expanded list of goods ‘’which allow Belarus to diversify its sources of revenue, thereby enabling its involvement in the Russian aggression against Ukraine.’’

The move shuts down the bloc’s purchases of Belarusian wood furniture, worth more than 112 million Euros between April 2023 and April 2024, and over a quarter of a billion Euros since the start of the invasion. Germany and Poland have been the main entry points for these products in recent months, followed by Lithuania and Romania. 

For contracts concluded before 1 July 2024, the ban will not be applicable until 2 October 2024. The new rules also ban imports of other products such as coal and diamonds, and include export bans on an extended list of dual-use goods. The decision will go some way towards closing the so-called ‘Belarus Gap,’ which refers to the use of Belarusian territory and entities to circumvent sanctions in a number of ways, including by serving as a backdoor for sanctioned goods sent to Russia from EU territory. 

Earthsight joined B4Ukraine in calling on the EU to ban Belarusian wood furniture, dubbed ‘Lukashenko’s last gold mines’ in its 12th round of sanctions in October 2023, echoing calls from more than 100 Ukrainian, Belarusian and international groups immediately following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. 

However, the trade is notorious for its links to human rights abuses in Belarus and should have ceased long ago. We previously showed how even before the invasion of Ukraine, the sale of the country’s wooden furniture to the EU was linked to the torture of political prisoners in Belarusian penal colonies, and connected to individuals on pre-existing EU sanctions lists. Until the invasion, the penal colonies were even certified by well-known consumer labels for wood, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), while large EU retailers such as Ikea, Hoffner and XXXLutz -the ‘Austrian Ikea’ - were major customers.

Earlier this year, Earthsight joined Belarusian human rights groups and leading opposition figures in demanding accountability from FSC for its actions in Belarus, calls it has thus far failed to heed.

"It was high time for the EU to put more restrictions on European trade with a regime that is complicit in Russia's war on Ukraine and routinely violates the rights of its own people. It was unfathomable that wooden furniture made by political prisoners in Belarusian detention camps continued to be unsanctioned and sold throughout the EU. Hopefully this is a moment for all actors who have enabled the continuation of this trade in the years since the stolen Belarusian elections of 2020 - which includes sustainability trademark FSC - to reflect and take measures to ensure to never financially prop up oppressive regimes again."

Christie Miedema, Libereco