Barama's Certificate Suspended

Barama's certificate for 'good forestry' suspended
Thursday, January 18th 2007

Barama Company Limited's (BCL) certification from the international Forest Steward-ship Council has been suspended since the company failed to comply with certain conditions under the certificate, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, WWF Guianas Programme Officer Patrick Williams said that on January 10, Barama informed the organisation of the suspension by SGS-Qualifor (SGS), an independent FSC-accredited certification body.

"WWF is deeply disappointed by Barama's failure to comply with the certification and calls on the company to do whatever it takes to get back into full compliance with the FSC's rigorous environmental, social and economic standards," Williams said.

He said that the suspension of Barama's certification by SGS is a good example of what the FSC system was designed to do - detect and specify improvements for responsible forestry practice of both certified producers as well as the certification bodies that conduct the field audits.

Contacted yesterday, BCL's General Manager Girwar Lalaram told Stabroek News that the company will be issuing a statement on the issue after meetings with SGS and FSC on the way forward.

But he said that the company was in receipt of a three-month suspension from SGS and that further action will be contingent upon on the company - owned by Malaysian interests - correcting deficiencies on the ground. "However, a meeting has been set for all parties concerned. We are so far awaiting a final report from the auditors as to the areas of concern.

We will make public the findings [of the audit] after the meeting.

This is not a withdrawal of the certification," Lalaram said.

Barama was awarded the certification in February 2006 for 570,000 hectares of its forests in west central Guyana by SGS - only a portion of its vast concession. WWF provided the financial and technical support to Barama in the process leading up to its successful certification.

The company's certification was contingent upon its correcting several minor deficiencies for which SGS issued corrective action requests (CARs). "These CARs detailed mandatory improvements in Barama's performance in the area of worker housing, hygiene and safety, road planning and several other issues. "These CARs formed the basis of SGS's monitoring audit in November 2006," the statement from Williams said.

During the year since Barama achieved its certification, staff from the WWF Guianas Programme Office visited the company's operations several times under an ongoing monitoring programme.

Staff of the WWF met with Barama officials to discuss the company's adherence to responsible forest management practices that the FSC standards mandated. "During the process it became increasingly clear to WWF that Barama neither carried out nor gave priority and resources to many of the improvements the company had committed to pursue," Williams said.

He said that the WWF wrote Lalaram in December expressing concern and urging the company's management to solve these problems immediately. According to the WWF, Barama's CEO replied accepting the deficiencies identified to date and pledging to return to full compliance with the provisions of its FSC certification.

Engage

Williams said that the WWF is prepared to engage immediately with Barama, local forestry experts, and SGS auditors to address all the deficiencies discovered during the audit SGS conducted, provided that Barama renew its commitment to certification and deliver the resources necessary to "get the job done right."

"As such, the WWF calls upon Barama to make a public statement…indicating that the company is serious about attaining and practising responsible forestry according to the rigorous standards of the FSC [and] commit to a transparent, time-bound action plan to address all the deficiencies as specified by SGS and as required to be compliant with FSC certification," he said.

The release said that WWF is also examining its own role in the certification process to ensure that in the future all WWF procedures and protocols for working with companies seeking FSC certification, as outlined in its Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN), are complied with.

According to the release, WWF's GFTN provides structured and rigorous support to companies in various countries around the world. Under GFTN, companies work closely with WWF and independent auditors and consultants under an agreed action plan for achieving forest certification.

Williams said that GFTN guidelines ensure that any company receiving WWF support rigorously prepares itself for, and fully deserves, certification. "Companies that fail to live up to their obligations under the GFTN are expelled," he said.

But Williams noted that currently the WWF does not have a local Forest and Trade Network structure in the Guianas.

It is however prepared to work closely with Barama in accordance with GFTN guidelines in the meantime, he stated. "This would be subject to Barama preparing a suitable time-bound plan of action consistent with GFTN requirements."

In recent weeks Barama and other Asian multinational forestry entities have been severely criticized because of the predisposition to export logs as against downstream processing of logs harvested. Barama has also been accused of not playing fairly as the company continues to ship logs harvested from outside of its own concessions. Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture had revealed that Barama had not complied with the tenets of its investment plan.

StabroekNews