Greenpeace Calls Lawsuit against U.S. Government Unfounded and
Unethical
Washington, D.C., August 1, 2002 – The timber
industry has announced it is suing the U.S. government to force the
release of 16 shipments of Brazilian mahogany that Greenpeace, the
Brazilian government and the U.S. Department of Interior have
deemed either illegal or under investigation. The plaintiffs claim
that they had all of the necessary paper work, including valid
export permits issued by the Brazilian government. Greenpeace,
however, uncovered evidence that these permits’ validity is highly
questionable and that the mahogany itself was illegally extracted
following a ban on all mahogany exports put in place by Brazil in
October of 2001.
“The timber industry is abusing the legal system for illegal
gains,” said Scott Paul, Greenpeace Forest Campaign Coordinator.
“President Bush announced that the U.S. was going to become a
leader in combating illegal logging and this lawsuit undermines any
efforts to fight the outbreak of illegal logging that is destroying
ancient forests around the world.”
Before issuing a permit for timber export, the Convention that
Oversees Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which oversees
endangered mahogany, requires each country’s designated agency be
satisfied that the product was legally harvested. In the case of
these shipments, the designated agency was Brazil’s environmental
agency IBAMA. IBAMA had shutdown the country’s mahogany trade in
October, 2001 citing widespread corruption and illegalities.
According to CITES, only IBAMA, not the courts or even the
president of the country has the authority to issue these
permits.
As reported in the news earlier this year, Greenpeace uncovered
evidence that mahogany shipments were continuing into the United
States following Brazil’s ban. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife sought
clarification from Brazil about the legal status of the shipments
mentioned in this lawsuit. So far the Brazilian government has
requested that the United States continue to hold the mahogany and
Greenpeace called for its return to Brazil to aid the government’s
efforts to track and combat illegal logging.
“If these plaintiffs continue with
this ill-advised lawsuit, it will just continue to shake people’s
confidence in the ethics of U.S. corporations,” continued Paul.
“These companies have an opportunity to join President Bush’s
initiative to combat illegal logging and to be part of the solution
– instead of fueling the problem.”
