Luxury yacht maker fined after breaching timber laws
Following an OPSS investigation, luxury yacht maker Sunseeker International Limited has been fined for breaches of timber laws.
Poole-based luxury yacht maker Sunseeker International Limited has been fined £240,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of laws aimed at tackling illegal logging of timber worldwide.
The sentencing followed an investigation by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), the UK’s national product regulator and part of the Department for Business and Trade, supported by the Insolvency Service.
Sunseeker International Limited was charged and subsequently pleaded guilty to a number of breaches of the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2013 (UK Timber Regulations). These included failures of due diligence and record keeping regarding imports it made of timber products into the UK in 2021 and 2022, including Teak from Myanmar, Wenge from Africa, and Oak from Europe.
The UK Timber Regulations place obligations on businesses trading in timber and timber-related products in order to tackle illegal logging and protect forests around the world.
At the sentencing at Bournemouth Crown Court, the judge also made a confiscation order in the sum of £66,950.64 against Sunseeker and awarded prosecution costs of £51,619.
OPSS Chief Executive Graham Russell said:
Protecting our natural world is a priority for Government. OPSS will continue to take proportionate action to hold businesses to account where we identify non-compliance with environmental obligations, including criminal prosecution.