The 5th package of sanctions was published in the Official Journal of the EU Commission on April 8, 2022 and also includes a ban on the import of wood from Russia. Important products such as softwood lumber and plywood are affected. For deliveries that were already under contract before the sanctions came into force, there is a transitional period until July 7, 2022. However, this is made considerably more difficult by the fact that Russian and Belarusian freight forwarders are no longer allowed to operate in the domestic market.

The German Timber Trade Association (GD Holz) welcomes and supports the 5th sanctions package because it can contribute to stopping the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Finally, the package of sanctions provides clear guidelines that all market partners in the internal market must adhere to. The regulations agreed by the Brussels administration on timber imports from Russia up to the 5th sanctions package caused irritation with the timber imports concerned, as different interpretations by the responsible national authorities in some countries did not bring clarity.

Russia is a major timber exporter, recently exporting around 1 million m3 of softwood sawn timber and 252,000 m3 of plywood per year to Germany. From the point of view of foreign timber trade, it will now be a matter of procuring these quantities from other countries, which are important for the market, or finding substitute products, for example for the loss of birch plywood.