The Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) welcomed the long-overdue decision by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Assurance Services International (ASI) to terminate all remaining Trademark License Agreements (TLAs) in Myanmar. With the final two certificates revoked on 18 October 2025, there are now no active FSC-certified companies operating under the military regime.

This decisive action is the result of BWI’s relentless advocacy, together with the Building and Wood Workers Federation of Myanmar (BWFM), and allies within the FSC system. For more than two years, the said trade unions have consistently urged the FSC Board, the FSC secretariat, and ASI to act in line with their own principles and to end certification under an environment of systemic repression and forced labour.

The decision validated BWI’s field reports, which exposed repeated and severe violations of FSC’s Core Labour Requirements. These included “forced overtime tantamount to forced labour”, “a two-tiered system discriminating against daily wage workers in terms of pay, holiday and job security”, and the “absence of a labour union.” In one egregious case, a factory allegedly submitted a list of employees to the military for conscription, which is an outright violation of human rights.

Terminating the certificates was the only credible way to protect FSC’s integrity and prevent complicity in the junta’s atrocities. As BWI has long warned, any business operations in Myanmar risk granting the regime the legitimacy it desperately seeks, and any form of FSC certification in Myanmar risks legitimising the export of “blood timber and wood products” that finances military operations, fuels atrocities, and prolongs the suffering of Myanmar’s people.

This decision finally aligns FSC with the  ILO Resolution on Myanmar under Article 33 in 2025, which calls on all actors to ensure that their activities do not “enable, facilitate or prolong” violations of workers’ rights.

BWI reiterated that the resolution has set a clear global benchmark for responsible conduct. It also said that while it commended the FSC and ASI for taking the necessary steps, it will remain vigilant. BWI asserted that no certification process should resume in Myanmar until state violence ceased and fundamental workers’ rights, human rights, and trade union rights are fully restored.