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Greenpeace Canada asks FSC to cut ties with Paper Excellence

Greenpeace Canada and Auriga Nusantara, an NGO in Indonesia urge the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to recognize the connection between Paper Excellence and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP)/ Sinar Mas Group, the parent company, and disassociate itself from it.

FSC disassociated itself from APP in 2007.

In October 2022, Greenpeace Canada and others released an investigation showing that Paper Excellence is a sister company of APP and controlled by the same parent, the Sinar Mas Group. The evidence provided in the investigation included corporate filings, lobbyist registration and official government documentation. In March of this year, a media investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and several Canadian media organizations confirmed these findings.

The recent complaint asks FSC to publicly acknowledge Paper Excellence’s relationship with APP/Sinar Mas and take appropriate measures to also disassociate from Paper Excellence and its affiliates. According to its policy for association, FSC proscribes businesses related to disassociated companies from obtaining certification. This policy specifically includes parent, subsidiary, and sister companies.

Paper Excellence owns 42 pulp, paper, and saw mills with FSC certifications in Canada, the U.S. and France. The company is now operating in five Canadian provinces and managing 22 million hectares of forest land, including an estimated 7.3 million hectares in Quebec and Ontario certified by FSC. Paper Excellence even holds a seat on FSC Canada’s Board of Directors through its newly acquired company Resolute Forest Products.

“The FSC might be the last to acknowledge that Paper Excellence and APP are two sides of the same coin. It now has a clear decision to make – to enable a shady forest takeover by a multinational logging giant or be honest with the public about what’s really happening here. Over 10,000 Canadians have already called on Paper Excellence to be more transparent and their calls will only get louder,” said Shane Moffatt, head of the Food and Nature campaign, Greenpeace Canada.

“For too long Sinar Mas has been expanding its operations in North America without any consequences from FSC. To maintain its credibility, we expect FSC to implement its own policies and disassociate with Paper Excellence. Canadians, who like us Indonesians are already dealing with uncontrollable forest fires and dangerous air quality, deserve to know that Paper Excellence’s sister company APP has in Indonesia one of the worst corporate track records not only on deforestation but for forest fires as well,” added Timer Manurung, chair, Auriga Nusantara.