A timber company in Bihor has been fined 5,000 lei and forfeited 20 cubic meters of firewood after Forest Crime police discovered it had registered a transport using photographs downloaded from the internet and shot from a computer screen. The Bihor Tribunal last week definitively upheld the sanction, ruling that the images submitted to Romania's national timber tracking system failed to meet legal requirements. The case began when Forest Crime officers examined documentation for a firewood shipment and found irregularities in the photographic evidence filed with SUMAL, the mandatory system that monitors timber circulation across Romania.

Under SUMAL regulations, every timber transport must be registered with real-time photographs showing the loaded truck, the full cargo, and the vehicle's registration number clearly visible. The company had registered the transport in SUMAL, but officers determined the photographs were not taken directly of the loaded truck. Instead, the images had been found on the internet, displayed on a computer screen, and then photographed.

Magistrates noted in their ruling that the photos exhibited digital artifacts—what they described as "noise" specific to images photographed from a screen—that revealed the manipulation. In some photographs, the entire load was not visible. In others, the vehicle's registration number could not be seen.

The deficiencies made it impossible to verify that the documentation matched the actual shipment, the tribunal found. The company owner contested the fine, but the Bihor Tribunal rejected the appeal. The ruling emphasized that compliance with SUMAL's photographic requirements is not optional.

The system was designed to create a verifiable chain of custody for every cubic meter of timber moved through Romania, and the images must document the specific transport they claim to represent. Forest Crime police, the specialized unit responsible for investigating illegal logging and timber fraud, have made enforcement of SUMAL protocols a priority. The system was introduced to address widespread illegal logging by making every stage of timber movement traceable.

When a transport is registered, the photographs serve as the primary evidence that the wood being moved corresponds to the legal documentation. By submitting photographs that did not depict the actual loaded truck, the company undermined the integrity of that record. The tribunal's decision treats the falsified documentation as equivalent to transporting timber without compliant documents at all.

The 5,000 lei fine represents the administrative penalty for the documentation violation. The forfeiture of the 20 cubic meters of firewood—the goods that were being transported with the non-compliant paperwork—is the material consequence. The company loses both the fine and the timber, which remains in the custody of authorities.

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Bihor, with its extensive forest areas and active timber trade, has been a focal point for SUMAL enforcement. The system requires that photographs be uploaded at the time of loading, creating a timestamp that can be cross-referenced with transport permits and harvest authorizations. When officers inspect a truck on the road, they compare the physical load with the images filed in the system.

Discrepancies trigger investigations. In this case, the discrepancies were not subtle. The presence of screen artifacts in the photographs indicated that the company had not simply taken poor-quality images, but had actively sought to deceive the system by substituting unrelated pictures.

The tribunal's ruling makes clear that such substitutions will not be treated as technical errors but as violations that justify both fines and forfeiture. The decision is final. The company has no further avenue of appeal and must absorb the financial loss.

The ruling also establishes a precedent for how courts in Bihor will treat similar cases, signaling that falsified SUMAL documentation will be met with the full range of available penalties. For other timber companies operating in the region, the case clarifies the standard of evidence required. Photographs must be taken directly of the loaded vehicle, must show the entire cargo, and must capture the registration number.

Images that fail any of these tests—or that bear signs of having been photographed from a screen—will not satisfy SUMAL's legal requirements. The enforcement reflects the broader effort by Romanian authorities to eliminate illegal logging and ensure that every cubic meter of timber in circulation can be traced to a legal source. SUMAL is the backbone of that effort, and its effectiveness depends on the accuracy of the data companies submit.

When companies falsify that data, they compromise the system's ability to distinguish legal timber from illegal, making enforcement actions like this one necessary to preserve the system's credibility. The company now faces the task of reviewing its internal compliance procedures to prevent future violations. Whether it will continue operating in the timber trade, and whether it will implement stricter controls over how its SUMAL registrations are prepared, remains to be seen.

What is certain is that the next time it registers a transport, the photographs will need to be authentic.