FORESTRY COMPANIES

Forestry Companies

Forestry Companies

The UK Government has confirmed that timber products certified by the FSC meet Central Government procurement guidelines for legal and sustainable timber. Greenpeace and other environmental organisations believe that the FSC is the only credible forest certification system currently available on the market that ensures environmentally and socially responsible timber sourcing. Greenpeace is also delighted that the Government has confirmed our view that the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) cannot offer the same guarantees.

The PEFC standard not only allows unsustainable logging in ancient forest areas and other ecologically valuable ecosytems, but also the forest management standards required to receive PEFC certification are very low and vary considerably from country to country. Moreover, unlike the FSC - which was developed by social, environmental as well as business groups - the PEFC scheme was solely developed and is dominated by the forest sector. Stakeholder representation from environmental organisations and indigenous peoples groups is totally inadequate.

However, Greenpeace is astonished that the Government report also concluded that the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) system, which is currently facing heavy criticism from Canadian environmental and indigenous peoples' groups, has also been given the green light. Less than two weeks ago, these groups launched appeals against forestry operations covering over 13 million hectares of forest certified by the CSA. The appeals follow a systematic review of how CSA certified companies are failing to live up to the claims made within the standard. (2)

Even when the CSA standard is being properly adhered to, no major environmental group in Canada working on certification believes that CSA can offer any real assurance that the timber is from sustainably managed forests. Under the CSA system, companies set their own forest management standards and no consistent minimum standard is required by the CSA.

Comprehensive structural reforms adopted by the Slovak government in the first several years of this decade led the World Bank to name the country the world's top reformer in improving the investment climate in its "Doing Business in 2005" report. Slovakia's relatively low-cost yet skilled labor force, low taxes, liberal labor code and favorable geographic location have helped it become one of Europe's favorite investment markets. The Financial Times described Slovakia as the "Detroit of the East," and Forbes magazine called it the world's next Hong Kong or Ireland. The election of the left-leaning Smer (or Direction) party in 2006 has slowed reform momentum and led to some less business-friendly changes in labor, pension, and social insurance legislation. The Business Alliance of Slovakia, for instance, has reported an eight-quarter downward trend in the quality of the business environment, citing a slow and ineffective legal system, unequal treatment in the legal system, and an ineffective political system. The government's commitment to adopting the euro in 2009, however, tempered proposals to overhaul the previous reforms and contributed to stable macroeconomic policies. Slovakia succeeded in joining the European Monetary Union on January 1, 2009.

Slovakia is a member of the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic ...