Western Firms Certified as Socially Responsible Trade in Myanmar Teak Linked to the Military Regime

By Scilla Alecci and Jelena Cosic

In the summer of 2021, as Myanmar’s military junta pressed a bloody campaign against its pro-democracy opponents, a 220-year-old U.S. lumber company that boasts of its commitment to responsible forestry quietly struck a deal with a subsidiary of a timber-processing firm with links to the junta.