London - 19 September 2006: A Greenpeace International report released today reveals how illegally logged timber from Russia is being freely imported into Finland to factories including those of Stora Enso, which is partly owned by the Finnish State.
In its report, Partners in Crime: A Greenpeace Investigation into Finland's Illegal Timber Trade with Russia, Greenpeace has documented wide-spread illegal logging in the Russian Republic of Karelia.(1)
During undercover field research between June and August 2006, campaigners witnessed timber being harvested in violation of Russian forest and environmental laws,(2) then transported across the Finnish border to be processed by industry giants UPM Kymmene and Stora Enso.
Products from these mills are exported throughout Europe and beyond, as far away as Japan. Customers of these mills include liquid packaging manufacturers, such as Tetra Pak and Elopak.
"Both Stora Enso and UPM Kymmene pride themselves on their reputations for 'sustainable' forest management. However these companies can not have it both ways. They cannot claim to be good corporate citizens while procuring illegally and unsustainably logged timber from Russia," said Belinda Fletcher, Greenpeace Forest Campaigner.
She continued, "Finland can no longer distance itself from the laundering of illegal timber. As President of the EU, it is the Finnish government's duty to support effective EU-wide legislation stopping the import of illegal and unsustainable timber into Europe. Instead, Finland is allowing the EU to serve as a clearing house for the spoils of forest crime."
The European Commission promised to propose options for legislation to combat the import of illegal timber into Europe, aimed at filling the gaps of an earlier voluntary programme. However, to date, it has failed to deliver. In the meantime, Finland has put economic interests before forest protection, claiming that industry-led voluntary measures are sufficient to control timber trade. The evidence provided in the Greenpeace report makes it clear that these are inadequate.
Greenpeace is one of 180 NGOs and over 80 progressive businesses calling for effective EU-wide legislation to ban illegal timber and to ensure that all timber products on the market come from responsibly managed forests.(3)
Notes to Editors:
[1] Partners in Crime: A Greenpeace Investigation into Finland's Illegal Timber Trade with Russia availble at /media/reports/partners-in-crime-finlands-illegal-timber-trade-with-russia
[2] Karelian forest management and exploitation is based on management plans that have not been assessed by forestry and environmental experts or by civil society, a clear violation of Russian Federal law. In addition to the absence of an EIA, further violations were documented by Greenpeace.
[3] Factsheets on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Industry and NGO statements can be downloaded from http://www.greenpeace.org/forests/finn-russia-industry and http://www.greenpeace.org/forests/finn-russia-ngo respectively.
For further information, please contact Greenpeace UK press office on 0207 865 8225
For related visuals, please contact Franca Michienzi, Greenpeace International, +31 653 819 255
