Forest Stewardship Council says federal investigation into FSC supporter Gibson Guitar relates to wood company uses that is not FSC-certified

Lorena Madrigal

MINNEAPOLIS , September 2, 2011 (press release) – In response to recent media coverage of the federal raid of Gibson Guitar Corporation factories in Tennessee, the Forest Stewardship Council has issued the following statement:

Not all the wood Gibson Guitar Corporation uses is FSC certified. This story is about the non-certified wood.

So while Gibson has shown important sector leadership by stimulating demand for FSC-certified wood, the federal investigation addresses the wood they use that is not FSC certified.

FSC-certification is a component of due care that companies can use, but unless 100% of the wood used is FSC certified, other mechanisms are required too. In this instance, it is the non-certified wood that is being questioned.

As part of its global forest management standard, FSC requires compliance with national and local forest practice regulations. FSC was not designed to address laws related to value-added manufacturing, which appears to be the subject of the recent action against Gibson.

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