October 2009 Filing with the Federal Trade Commission

·    During the 2nd Forest Benchmark comment period for LEED, the Washington Forest Law Center (on behalf of Forest Ethics) filed a letter with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claiming SFI engaged in deceptive trade practices and calling for the FTC to investigate SFI's labeling and certification standards.

·      In response, the Coalition sent the FTC a Letter identifying several aspects of the FSC system that raise legal concerns. The  Letter:

o       Describes how FSC’s highly variable regional/international standards mislead consumers by failing to disclose which of many variable standards or “interim” guidelines was used for a “FSC” certified product,

o       Highlights problems with FSC’s auditing processes, and

o       Identifies possible antitrust problems with a “FSC-only” approach to certification (as implemented by LEED), arguing instead for broader inclusion of other legitimate certification systems.

·     The Letter asks for clearer guidance from the FTC for all forest certification labeling, perhaps through revised “Green Guides.”

·     The Letter also asks the FTC to provide guidance to organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council to protect competition and avoid restraining trade in green building and product standards.

 

March 2010 Comments to the USGBC

• The Coalition provided comments to the USGBC because the latest proposed draft of the Forest Benchmark standard for recognition of Certified Wood in LEED would continue to provide FSC with a monopoly for certified wood for green building with no justifiable reason for doing so.
• The Comments identify several concerns with the proposed Forest Benchmark: 
  • As the market leader in green building standards setting, adopting a revised benchmark to credit only FSC-certified wood subjects the USGBC to antitrust scrutiny
  • There is no sound basis for USGBC’s dogmatic endorsement of FSC to the exclusion of other standards when--in practice in North America--the standards are indistinguishable
  • USGBC’s approach to wood certification misleads consumers
• The comments also raised concerns regarding potential conflicts-of-interest as well as provided some examples of FSC audits which illustrate why a "FSC only" approach misleads consumers
• With respect to the forest benchmark, the Coalition urges the USGBC to conduct its operations in a way that supports its stated mission.