Indonesian unions claim FSC is plot to sabotage industry

Western pulp and paper companies and NGOs are trying to destroy forest industry under cover of environmental concerns – open statement.

An aggrieved complaint from Indonesian Pulp and Paper Unions makes extraordinary accusations against the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the large western paper companies. They claim the establishment of the certification scheme in the 1990s was designed to exclude developing countries, such as Indonesia to prevent them competing against entrenched interests.

They also accuse international environmental organizations – presumably such as the World Wildlife Fund – of being in cahoots with the pulp and paper companies. Campaigns to stop multi-nationals buying non-FSC compliant papers from Indonesia are regarded as mere tactics to shutdown the pulp and paper industry, which they claim has the potential to become the world’s number one.

In a paranoid twist the unions also include the country’s infamous palm oil industry as a victim of organized Western sabotage campaigns.

The accusations, which were distributed by Webber Shandwik, a PR advocacy agency employed by Indonesian paper company, APP, follow the court findings earlier this year overturning a dumping claim against Indonesian tissue paper. In a move designed to avoid any repetition of dumping allegations Solaris Paper, an affiliate of APP has announced plans to invest $20 million in a tissue conversion facility at Greystanes in Australia.

In recent years APP has undertaken a high-powered PR campaign to fight accusations that it is raping rain forests and destroying endangered species habitat. Several European paper merchants refuse to carry Indonesian paper as a result of pressure campaigns from organisations such as WWF.

Access the full Indonesian unions statement here.