The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international initiative aiming at ensuring that wood is produced in an environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable manner, has terminated certification for a tree plantation project in Laos by Oji LPFL, a company created with investment by Oji Paper, a Japanese company.  The auditor noted, inter alia, that it could not verify that adequate consultation had taken place with local communities, and that questions remained as to whether these communities had agreed to sell their land. LPFL has issued a statement saying that "Fortunately LPFL do not see any negative impact regarding to withdrawal of the certificate among business activity included sales of LPFL product, as none of customer are not require FSC certificate." Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Oji Paper in Japan to respond, and was informed that Oji Paper shared the views of LPFL as expressed in its statement.