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18 Oct 05 14:49 15:49 UK |
Illegal trade in timber across the Burmese-Chinese border is costing the Burmese people $250m (£143m) a year, campaign group Global Witness has said.
The group said illegal exports from northern Burma into China rose 60% between 2001 and 2004 despite both governments being aware of the issue.
It has called on the European Union and the United States to exert pressure on China to put a stop to the trade.
The trade had resulted in "rampant destruction" of forests, it claimed.
Exceeding limits
Publishing a new report, Global Witness - which campaigns against the exploitation of natural resources through war and corruption - said the trade dated back to the late 1980s but had got worse in recent years.
Between 2001 and 2004, the amount of timber illegally crossing the border into the Yunnan province had increased by 60%, it said.
More than 1 million cubic metres of timber crossed the border in 2004, above the legally permitted limit in Burma of 18,000 cubic metres.
The exports - accounting for about 95% of total timber trade between the two countries - were also breaking Chinese law because they were not accompanied by the correct paperwork.
According to Global Witness, a handful of Chinese and Burmese companies were running the trade with the tacit support of local officials in Yunnan Province and autonomous Burmese groups in the region.
There was evidence of links between Burmese army commanders and companies involved in the trade, the group said.
Better enforcement
Global Witness said the Chinese government had failed to honour a series of multilateral agreements made in 2001 with other Asian nations to co-operate over illegal logging and other environmental crime.
"It is our understanding that the Chinese government is interested in not having a lot of illegal timber entering the country and has signed up to these agreements," said Suzanne Kempel, a campaigner with Global Witness.
"We are asking the Chinese government to enforce these agreements and to take a much more proactive approach."
There was evidence of significant environmental damage caused by the trade including an increase in flooding, although there has been no independent corroboration of this.
Global Witness criticised the international response to the trade.
The EU and US had not produced coherent proposals to address the environmental impact on the region, it said.
The Chinese and Burmese governments have both declined to comment on the report.