APP products could be back in supermarkets, 4 years after being blamed for haze

SINGAPORE — Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) could see its products sold at major supermarkets again, almost four years after they were pulled from shelves due to the company’s alleged links to the forest fires that caused a massive haze in 2015.

The APP said in a press release on Wednesday (May 29) that it received the Enhanced Singapore Green Label Scheme certification from the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) on May 16 as a result of its efforts in tackling the haze threat.

The council said that APP is among nine companies that received the certification, having complied with the requirements of its audit and risk management framework certification.

It was the council and the Consumers Association of Singapore that urged major retailers such as NTUC FairPrice and Sheng Siong to yank products from suppliers with links to firms that could be partly responsible for causing the 2015 haze.

In its statement, APP said that it has since intensified its battle against the threat of fire and haze.

Its spokesperson told TODAY: “APP continues to be engaged in discussion with all major retailers in Singapore. These retailers have expressed confidence in the SEC's Green Labelling Scheme and the award of the Enhanced Green Label to APP allows us to engage with these retailers again.”

TODAY has reached out to retailers such as NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong and Dairy Farm International for further comment.

The APP spokesperson said that the company had to comply with a “25-point audit criteria”, including a zero-burning policy.

APP suppliers were audited by a team appointed by SEC, consisting of inspectors, auditors and sustainability experts, between December 2017 and March last year.

The process includes a full disclosure of the company’s supply chain and ensuring that suppliers are not engaged in burning.

Mr Bernard Tan, country president for Singapore at Sinar Mas, the Indonesia-based conglomerate that owns APP, said that the company has invested heavily in sustainability and fire prevention to ensure that its supply chain is responsibly managed.

He added: “With climate change causing dry seasons to become hotter and longer, fire and haze remain a real threat and requires a multi-stakeholder cooperative effort to overcome, and APP has upped its game in such efforts, building on the lessons learned from the 2015 haze.”