Imports to the UK from Brazilian plywood manufacturer Amaplac are set to resume following the lifting of a Greenpeace-inspired boycott of its output.

Progress made by the Amazon-based producer towards gaining third-party certification for its output and raw material sourcing practices has succeeded in winning Greenpeace support for the resumption of shipments. Greenpeace chief rainforest campaigner, Phil Aikman, has written to the trade advising that they can now resume placing orders for Amaplac.

A vessel that left Manaus late last year carrying 2,700m³ of Amaplac plywood is due to discharge at Tilbury this week.

Montague L Meyer Ltd (MLM) purchasing manager for panel products Richard Lazenby said: ‘We had a real stand-off situation with the trade backing off from the brand in the face of intense pressure from environmentalists. Greenpeace is now saying that Amaplac should be supported, given the progress that has been made to date.’

Input from Forests Forever helped to progress a solution.

As the primary importer of Amaplac, MLM maintained imports through the summer in an effort to persuade the mill to address its practices.

UK agent for Amaplac Mike Harrod of PT Agencies said: ‘After months of hard work and dialogue with Greenpeace, the company is on the way to FSC certification. Greenpeace has put the company in contact with Mil Madeiraira [a raw material supplier with FSC certification] and it is buying logs from them.’

A spokesperson for Greenpeace told TTJ that the boycott was being lifted on a shipment-by-shipment basis and was dependent on continued progress by Amaplac towards third-party log auditing.

UK sales of Amaplac plywood sharply reduced last autumn after Greenpeace claimed it was made from illegally-sourced tropical hardwood.

Following the occupation of a vessel carrying Amaplac output at Tilbury, Greenpeace claimed it had succeeded in getting much of the trade to stop buying from the company, a subsidiary of Malaysian logging business WTK.