MINNEAPOLIS MN -- The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) issued a statement noting that the wood seized by the Department of Justice in the August 24 raid of Gibson Guitar's factory in Nashville in not FSC certified.
The FSC's statement contradicted comments released by Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz the day after DOJ agents armed with automatic weapons confiscated pallets of ebony and rosewood lumber, dozens of guitars and electronic files from the Nashville plant.
"Agents seized wood that was Forest Stewardship Council controlled,” Juszkiewicz said. “Gibson has a long history of supporting sustainable and responsible sources of wood and has worked diligently with entities such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace to secure FSC-certified sup"plies. The wood seized on August 24 satisfied FSC standards."
Following is FSC's statement in its entirety.
"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."
COMMENTS (14)
Carl
Report AbuseHuh? Now government is regulating the wood to be used in guitars? This place is fast becoming a looney bin. Unbelievable.
Pat
Report AbuseYour right Carl. It looks like the Government is trying to run another wood industry company out of the country. There is not much left here.
Steve Donnelly
Report AbuseI know I'll get lambasted for saying this but here it goes anyway...
Whilst regulations are necessary in certain arenas of industry in order to keep the people safe and out of harms way, there are regulations which are counter productive and not only push the pricing of products beyond reasonable boundaries but more importantly they actually cost American jobs - this case is a prime example of a quasi governmental body enforcing rules which WILL inevitably force some of Gibsons parts to be manufactured on distant shores perpetuating the decline of this once great nation....
We need less government to be able to compete and to reduce our nations burden...
Hambone
Report AbuseNice to see Gibson selling their guitars as FSC certified wood when in fact it is not. I'm sure they still charge the customer for it when they are not paying for the FSC requirements. No one likes the FSC restrictions and related cost but you cannot claim to use it and charge for it when you are not using the FSC certified wood. Sounds like they got caught cheating the customer.
Christian Kerner
Report AbuseEvery Regulation that our "Out of Control Government" places on ANY firm is actually an inducement for that firm to leave our shores. Obamacare, OSHA, FSC, DOJ, DOL, DOC, etc. with the THOUSANDS of agencies and regulations, exemplify the "Law of Unintended Consequences". In a TRULY free Market and Society, GIBSON should be able to buy the raw material from whom ever they please. These rules only hamper free enterprise.
The icing on the Cake, are AUTOMATIC Weapons used in a Guitar plant Raid, GOVERNMENT GONE WILD.
Christian Kerner
Report AbuseEvery Regulation that our "Out of Control Government" places on ANY firm is actually an inducement for that firm to leave our shores. Obamacare, OSHA, FSC, DOJ, DOL, DOC, etc. with the THOUSANDS of agencies and regulations, exemplify the "Law of Unintended Consequences". In a TRULY free Market and Society, GIBSON should be able to buy the raw material from whom ever they please. These rules only hamper free enterprise.
The icing on the Cake, are AUTOMATIC Weapons used in a Guitar plant Raid, GOVERNMENT GONE WILD.
Smith
Report AbuseI’m glad to see that the Dept. of Justice initiated this raid armed to the teeth, as if they were storming a known terrorist hideout in Baghdad! Just to make sure none of those evil guitar-making sellers of ebony that may, or may not have not been FSC certified knew their place. Or maybe just in case one of those responsible for this possible FSC clerical error tried to make a run for it.
It’s almost as if the government is trying to make non-government run business more difficult, eventually running them into the ground. Then the government will be able to stand back and say, “tisk, tisk, tisk, well, now everyone can see that capitalism doesn’t work. We’ll just take over from here.” They’ve done it before with our auto industry. And anyone that believes that the auto industry has repaid all the government money they “borrowed” please see me; I have some “waterfront” land down here in Florida that’s for sale.
Smith
twolazy
Report AbuseThe only illegal wood at the Gibson plant was the knotheaded FEDS.
Don
Report AbuseIf you ask me we to clean the DOJ out and hire lawyers with common sense. If this is Preasdent Obama's team then maybe the republicans arnt so bad after all.
Larry
Report AbuseDon.... When was the last time you ever heard of an attorney with common sense?
The automatic wepons were a BIT out of place. Heck of a way for an Americian worker to be treated.
Our government wants to control forest cutting in far lands while our department of enviromental recorces, here in PA, while cutting cherry lumber in our state forest does clear cutting, not selective cutting...
Woody
Report Abusemy understanding of FSC is that they are about trying to preserve wood species from extinction, some of which are endangered (i.e. Brazilian Rosewood I read about); & to stop illegal logging, which is plundering & theft from protected forest lands; the Amazon rainforest ( a large part of the lungs of the planet) has been illegally raped for years, right...
Neil Matthews
Report AbuseIt's a real shame that this case has become so politicised. The Lacey Act was updated in 2008 primarily to address illegal logging that was driving many tropical hardwood species to extinction. Gibson was guilty in this regard in making a very bad business decision to buy Madagascan rosewood when it was obvious it had been ripped illegally from Madagacar's rapidly shrinking National Parks - it doesn't exist anywhere else!
And following the Gibson investigation, Lacey is doing it's job perfectly as every wood importer is now paying full 100% attention to their supply chain for fear of being raided by the Feds. In the past nobody cared where wood came from, how it was harvested, were the correct fees paid, just as long as the quality was OK.
As this article says http://soundandfair.org/gibson-lacey-act-music-industry-game-changer - the Gibson case is a game changer for the music industry and about time too!
Mike
Report AbuseLarry, you do realize that clearcuttng is needed to have Cherry replace itself in the PA woods. Selective cutting replaces the cherry with other species.
Mike
Report AbuseLarry, you do realize that clearcuttng is needed to have Cherry replace itself in the PA woods. Selective cutting replaces the cherry with other species.