To boost exports, domestic cos go in for forest certification - Hindu Business Line
September 27, 2009
As international buyers insist on the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) certification as a
necessary prerequisite to place orders, more and
more domestic companies are going in for the
qualification to help increase their exports.
Forest certification is a mechanism for forest
monitoring, tracing and labelling timber, wood and
pulp products, besides non-timber forest products
where the quality of management is judged against
a series of agreed standards. Quality of
management includes environmental, social and
economic perspectives. The certificate is issued
by an independent party, which verifies that an
area of forest is managed to a defined standard.
"From the export market, there is a demand for
certified suppliers. Companies overseas like Marks
and Spencers, which source from India, look for
suppliers which have been certified as per FSC's
10 principles," said Dr T.R. Manoharan, Senior
Coordinator, Worldwide Fund for Nature
(WWF)-India.
He added that the 10 principles underline that all
Government laws regarding forests need to be
stringently followed, while the company has to
refrain from using genetically modified plants.
Also, the companies concerned need to follow rules
regarding payment of its workers, such as
maintaining parity between the wages of men and
women and not allowing child labour.
According to Dr Manoharan, at present 25 Indian
companies in the paper and timber business have
secured such certificates, while 10-15 more are in
the pipeline. This includes ITC, which availed a
certificate last month for a unit of its paper
business based out of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
"The unit in Coimbatore is where they collect used
paper and waste material and recycle it. ITC has
also applied for certification for its other
units," he said. Other major companies include
Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), Relaxo Footwear,
Khanna Paper Mills and Century Plyboards.
Mr S.N. Venkataraman, General Manager (Paperboards
and Speciality Papers Division), ITC, said that
the company, since 2008, has planted eight trees
for every tree it cut and it is now a carbon
positive company. He added that ITC, which is now
focussing more on its other businesses besides
tobacco, sources most of its fibre for its paper
plants from four plantations in India.
"Less that 50 per cent of the net revenue from the
2008-09 fiscal came from the tobacco business.
This shows how fast our other businesses are
growing. Over the next five years, we've committed
up to half of our sales from FSC certified
products," he said.
Among the 10-15 companies awaiting certification
is Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Paper Ltd (TNPL).
However, names of the other companies could not be
availed.
Elaborating on the system of audit, Dr Manoharan
said that there is an annual check on the
company's premises, by the auditor assigned by the
FSC. Moreover, if FSC senses any discrepancy, it
can conduct its own surprise check. He added that
FSC has assigned several certifying bodies such as
Smartword/Rainforest Alliance, which keep a check
on the standards followed by companies.
