Alliance Responds to Gibson's Lacey Troubles

New York, NY, Nov. 23, 2009--The Rainforest Alliance issued a statement after a Gibson guitar plant in Nashville, Tenn. came under investigation for possible violation of the Lacey Act

The act bans the importation or use of illegally harvested wood.

The potential enforcement has implications for the hardwood flooring industry.

"The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program has issued FSC Chain-of-Custody certificates to three Gibson manufacturing facilities.  The Nashville facility under investigation, Gibson Musical Instruments, currently holds a Chain-of-Custody certificate, first issued in 1996, and received its last annual audit in September 19, 2008.  Rainforest Alliance SmartWood auditors were scheduled to visit the facility again this coming Monday, November 23.  The audit has been postponed until December.

"The wood under investigation is not FSC-certified nor is it allowed in any FSC-certified product.  The FSC Chain-of-Custody audit conducted in 2008 verified that Gibson has purchased hard maple, mahogany and muira piranga from FSC-certified forests. These woods are used in the manufacturing of the company's Les Paul SmartWood and Raw Power guitars, which are sold as FSC-Pure with a certificate of authenticity from Gibson. Under the current scope of their certificate, they also have the ability to purchase swamp ash and poplar from FSC-certified suppliers.  No other species are authorized to be sold with a FSC-certified claim under Gibson's Chain-of-Custody certificate. The certificate does not cover wood from Madagascar.

"Until the investigation has been concluded, Henry E. Juszkiewicz, CEO and chairman of Gibson Guitar Corporation, has taken a leave of absence as a board member of the Rainforest Alliance."


The Rainforest Alliance said it has been working with Gibson since 1996, when the company introduced the first guitar ever to use FSC-certified wood: the Les Paul SmartWood Standard.

In 2007, the Alliance said that Gibson pledged to maximize its purchases of FSC-certified wood over the following five years as part of their commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative.