Palm oil giant Korindo have been reported to be cutting down primary rainforests for many years, previously receiving a warning from the Ethical standards body in 2019
SINGAPORE, July 16 (Reuters) - Wood standards body the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has cut ties with Indonesian palm oil, pulp and paper giant Korindo Group after allegations of deforestation and human rights abuses in the company's concessions, FSC said in a statement.
FSC certifies wood, pulp and paper companies that meet its ethical and sustainability standards. Its trademark tree logo is often found on products such as paper packaging.
It said it had to cut ties with Korindo after they could not agree on the procedure to verify the company's progress made against its commitments.
"It had become an untenable situation for FSC that we were not able to verify improvements in Korindo's social and environmental performance against the agreed preliminary conditions. This is why the Board decided to disassociate," Kim Carstensen, FSC director general said in the statement published on Thursday.
The termination of FSC's trademark licences with Korindo will begin in October.
"The decision to stop the association proceedings came as a great surprise as we fulfilled every step on the mutually agreed roadmap in the past years," Kwangyul Peck, Korindo's chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.
Allegations of deforestation, human rights abuses and destruction of conservation areas in Korindo's forestry operations in Indonesia began in 2017, when environmental group Might Earth submitted a complaint to FSC.
The Indonesian parliament launched an inquiry last year following a BBC report. Findings have yet to be disclosed.
Indonesia's environment and forestry ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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