Fiji Pine, Tropik Wood Industries, and Tropik Wood Products

In May 2015, Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) and the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) submitted a Policy for Association complaint against Fiji Pine, Tropik Wood Industries and Tropik Wood Products. The complaint alleged that the above companies were in violation of the FSC Policy for Association due to national Fijian legislation that is allegedly incompatible with International Labor Organization Core Conventions 87 (freedom of association) and 98 (collective bargaining).

An independent complaints panel was established in December 2015. The panel submitted the evaluation report in June 2016. During the evaluation period, the situation around the case evolved considerably: The Fijian Government repealed the Essential National Industries decree, a piece of legislation that allegedly violated the ILO conventions and was the subject of the FSC complaint. This resulted in Fiji's National Union of Workers being able to renegotiate a collective bargaining agreement with Fiji Pine Ltd.

Considering all these developments, the complaints panel concluded and recommended that FSC maintain the association with the companies. Based on the above and other analysis, the FSC International Board of Directors agreed to maintain association with Fiji Pine Ltd, Tropik Wood Industries and Tropik Wood Products on 21 July 2016.