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FSC is terminating the Trademark License Agreement (TLA) of the eight certificate holders belonging to the Vinda group through a mutually agreed termination agreement. Hence, the Vinda group can no longer be associated with FSC because it was recently acquired by the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) group. FSC disassociated from the RGE group, which includes APRIL, in August 2013.
According to the mutual termination agreement:
Vinda’s customers who bought products produced by Vinda as FSC-certified before the end of the liquidation period will be able to claim that they are FSC-certified without any time restrictions.
RGE’s acquisition of the Vinda group by RGE makes them a part of this disassociated corporate group. According to FSC’s Policy for Association, when a valid certificate holder is acquired by a disassociated corporate group, FSC terminates the company’s TLA and the certification body terminates their FSC certificate.
The Policy for Association stipulates that when FSC disassociates from a corporate group due to Policy for Association violations, all entities belonging to that group are barred from entering the FSC system through certification as long as the disassociation is valid.
Read more about the implications of disassociation, especially when a certificate holder is acquired by a disassociated corporate group in this set of FAQs.
Vinda is a leading hygiene products company in Asia headquartered in China. Therefore, the termination of their FSC certificates will have implications that affect its suppliers and customers. The terminated Vinda certificate holders are:
Royal Golden Eagle (RGE), the corporation that owns APRIL, announced the acquisition of Vinda Group on 22 March 2024. For more information about this acquisition, read RGE´s press release: https://www.rgei.com/attachments/article/1965/Vinda%20International%20Privatisation%20Reached%20Compulsory%20Acquisition%20Threshold_final.pdf
FSC disassociated from the APRIL group in August 2013, hence, currently no entity of that corporate group is eligible for association with FSC. Read more about this Policy for Association case here: Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd. Group (APRIL) | FSC Connect
Since October 2023, FSC has been facilitating APRIL’s remedy process. After successfully completing the remedy process, all companies belonging to the APRIL/RGE group, including those from the Vinda Group, may become eligible for association and certification. For more information about APRIL’s remedy process, click here: https://connect.fsc.org/asia-pacific-resources-international-holdings-ltd-group-april