EU Ecolabel allows forest destruction - the case of Pindo Deli

Update: On 17 November, the EU announced that French standards agency AFNOR, which originally awarded the ecolabel to two Pindo Deli products, was asked to investigate FERN's concerns. According to the European Commission, AFNOR's findings "clearly prove that there was a full compliance with the criteria of the EU ecolabel for copying and graphic paper valid at that time, especially on criterion 3 – sustainable forest management". FERN and many other NGOs disagree with the findings and have produced a statement. In other devlopements, WWF has also written a new critique of the EU Ecolabel and FERN has been contacted by APP's lawyers.

The original report investigated the award of the EU Ecolabel to two photocopy brands, Golden Plus and Lucky Boss, manufactured by the Indonesian company Pindo Deli, part of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), one of the world's most controversial pulp and paper companies. It concludes that the EU Ecolabel criteria for sustainable forest management for copy & graphic paper and the revised version (latest draft from December 2009) are very weak and not adequate to ensure that the most egregious forest operations are excluded. In addition, the EU Ecolabel award process is non-transparent and the EU Ecolabel should be withdrawn for Pindo Deli's brands of photocopy paper.

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FERN_PindoDeli-final.pdf	1.26 MB