The Environmental Paper Network, along with a coalition of civil society organizations from Indonesia, the U.S., and Canada, is condemning the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) decision to lift its suspension of Asia Pulp & Paper’s (APP) Remedy Process. This premature move undermines the FSC’s own commitments to transparency and accountability and risks enabling greenwash for one of the world’s most destructive forestry companies.
Earlier this year, the FSC paused the Remedy Process with APP, citing unresolved questions around APP’s corporate ties to Paper Excellence, now the largest pulp and paper company in North America. But this week, the FSC abruptly reversed course despite having not completed its investigation into the scope of APP’s control over Paper Excellence (rebranded in North America as ‘Domtar’).
The FSC justified its decision by claiming to have “listened to the voices from the ground” at a recent forum in Jakarta. However, affected community representatives at that event spoke of ongoing land conflicts, corporate intimidation, failure in implementing free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and deep mistrust in the process. Their calls for stronger oversight were misrepresented by FSC leadership as support for resuming the Remedy Process.
As the joint statement notes, lifting the suspension at this stage undermines both stakeholder confidence and the integrity of the FSC’s Remedy Framework. APP is now being allowed to proceed with baseline assessments, without a clear agreement on which operations must be included, or accountability for past and ongoing environmental and social harms.
This is not the first time the FSC has appeared overly eager to accommodate APP. Last year, following a complaint by Greenpeace and Auriga, which argued that Paper Excellence should lose its certification due to being controlled by APP, the FSC commissioned McMillan LLP to investigate the corporate group structure. Notably, McMillan was also working as a consultant for Paper Excellence at the time. Unsurprisingly, the investigation concluded that APP had no current “relationship of control” over Domtar. Yet just months later, the owner of Domtar was officially named as APP’s owner, directly contradicting the investigation’s findings. That revelation triggered the suspension, which the FSC has now prematurely lifted.
The evidence of APP’s control over Paper Excellence is overwhelming: from internal whistleblower accounts and ownership records to a formal notice filed with the European Commission confirming transfer of control. Yet the FSC continues to deny this connection, allowing Paper Excellence to retain FSC certification despite clear violations of FSC’s disassociation rules.
In Indonesia, APP’s legacy of deforestation, community rights violations, and peatland destruction continues — driven by the very corporate interests that FSC has failed to confront.
We urge the FSC to:
- Conclude its investigation into the full scope of APP and Paper Excellence’s corporate control
- Revoke Paper Excellence/Domtar’s FSC certifications until APP meets its publicly stated commitments
- Uphold its standards and stop facilitating greenwashing for destructive industrial forestry
Read the full joint statement here
Signatories include:
Auriga Nusantara
Environmental Paper Network
Forest Peoples Programme
Greenpeace Indonesia
Hutan Kita Institute
Jaringan Masyarakat Gambut Riau (JMGR)
LPESM Riau
Natural Resources Defense Council
Rainforest Action Network
TuK INDONESIA
Woods & Wayside International
Yayasan Masyarakat Kehutanan Lestari (YMKL)
Forest Watch Indonesia
Perkumpulan Rawang South Sumatra