In July 2006, FSC put out a statement in response to World Rainforest Movement’s publication “Greenwash: Critical analysis of FSC certification of industrial tree monocultures in Uruguay“.
FSC’s statement is titled, “FSC guarantees peace of mind to consumers”. FSC based its statement on responses from the two certifying bodies involved, SmartWood and SGS.
The certification by the Soil Association in 2001 of Presov Forest District (PFD, part of the state forestry service) in Slovakia, has always been controversial.
Local environmental groups, such as WOLF/Friends of the Earth Slovakia have long argued that PFD was in gross non-compliance with the FSC’s Principles and Criteria. They provided detailed, Principle-by-Principle critiques of PFD’s operations, both before and after the certificate was issued, detailing multiple failures to comply with the P&C. These were evidently ignored by the Soil Association, who issued the certificate, and maintained it until 2006.
This posting has been provided by ‘Irish Environmental and Social Stakeholders’:
In August 2006, the World Bank reported that the level of illegal logging in Papua New Guinea could be as much as be 70 percent.
A mere two months later, the FSC accredited certifier SGS maintains that all log exports from PNG are fully legal – and have been for the last 12 years. The article below is from the PNG newspaper The National, which happens to be owned by Rimbunan Hijau, one of PNGs largest loggers.
FSC-Watch 