The Woodstock Consortium welcomes three recent rulings by the EU’s General Court, all upholding the European Commission’s Regulation imposing 5-year anti-dumping duties on imports of birch plywood from Russia. The General Court’s decisions mark a resounding victory for the European Commission and for the Consortium.
The judgements issued on September 11, 2024, follow three separate court proceedings[1] all initiated by Russian producers seeking to overturn the work of the Commission. The Woodstock Consortium strongly supported the EU throughout with Latvijas Finieris AS (Latvia) and Paged Pisz sp. z o.o. (Poland) providing formal backing represented by their legal counsels.
In a further pivotal move in March 2024, the EU also expanded the scope of the Regulation[2] to cover all products entering the EU through Kazakhstan and Türkiye. following findings that the existing import duties on Russian birch plywood above were being circumvented – by being sent to the EU through these countries. This investigation was also initiated by the EU at the Consortium’s request and showed up that even sanctions against such wood products were being flaunted.
As the Woodstock Consortium considers further requests, it calls on the European Commission, EU Member States, and market stakeholders to join it in remaining vigilant against any potential illegal entry of wood into the EU through various channels. The Consortium urges the utilization of all available national and EU defence measures to safeguard the integrity of the EU’s market.
Commentary by Jarosław Michniuk, president of Paged group companies:
“The court’s verdicts confirm that the European Commission’s investigation was carried out correctly and anti-dumping duties were rightly imposed on birch plywood of Russian origin. For this reason, the EU’s regulation in May of this year extending anti-dumping duties to Kazakhstan and Turkey is also legitimate.”
For media inquiries please contact: info@woodstock.eu or call +39 345 5210180
About the Woodstock Consortium
Established in 2019, the Woodstock Consortium comprises industry leaders such as Paged-Pisz from the Paged Group in Poland, Latvijas Finieris from Latvia, and UPM Plywood from Finland, along with key sectoral EU associations. Leveraging international trade regulations, the consortium is committed to fostering a level global playing field that ensures fairness and sustainability in the wood industry.
[1] Click on each for the Judgements: T-2/22 Sveza Verkhnyaya Sinyachikha et al. v EU Commission; T-3/22 ZHLPK v EU Commission; T-32/22 Vyatsky Plywood Mill v EU Commission. The three Russian exporting producers now have 2 months to decide whether to appeal the General Court’s judgements before the Court of Justice of the EU.
[2] https://woodstockconsortium.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/BirchPlywood-AC-Investigation-WoodstockConsortium-PressRelease-240301-.pdf
About the Paged Group:
Founded over 90 years ago, Paged is currently one of the five largest plywood manufacturers and a major producer of wooden chairs in the European Union. It employs approximately 1,700 people and has a total of five production plants in Poland and Estonia. It offers innovative solutions and products that are used in many industries, such as interior design and furnishing, construction, transport, and packaging in nearly 80 markets around the world. Since 2019, Paged has been developing and implementing technological and product innovations based on the unique competencies of its own research and development center, Paged LabTech.
Paged’s subsidiaries: Paged Pisz, Paged Morąg, Paged Eesti, Paged Trade, Paged Meble, Paged LabTech, Paged Deutschland and BUK Ltd. are part of the Thumos Group, a private Polish industrial and investment consortium.
Media contact:
Magdalena Kicińska, magdalena.kicinska@paged.pl, tel.: +48 725520874
