The Rainforest Alliance reaches a legal settlement with Resolute Forest Products
Posted February 4, 2015 11:43 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL – Resolute Forest Products has reached a truce with the Rainforest Alliance, a third-party group that conducts audits of compliance with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards.
The Montreal-based company settled a lawsuit it filed in May that sought $400,000 in damages over audits of its forests in Northern Ontario.
Resolute spokesman Seth Kursman declined to say if any money will be paid as part of the deal, but said the company is pleased that a new independent audit will be completed.
The company (TSX:RFP) claimed last year’s audits that resulted in the suspension of FSC certificates in two forests were biased interpretations that contained errors and omissions.
Under terms of the settlement, a new independent audit team will conduct a fresh review within six months of the Black Spruce-Dog River Matawin forest. A summary of the report findings will be released publicly, unlike those of the contested audits that have been sealed by an Ontario court judge.
An audit won’t be conducted on the Caribou Forest because its FSC certificate expired last month.
Kursman said the forests are certified under other regimes, but said FSC is required by some customers.
“The more certifications you can have — and to differentiate yourself and meet the requirements of various companies — we’re certainly going to work to do that,” he said.
The Rainforest Alliance, a New York-based agency that is the largest of its type in the world, has said the lawsuit was a first by an FSC certificate holder.
