Singapore retailer pulls Indonesia's APP paper products on smog concerns

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's largest supermarket chain has temporarily banned paper products from Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP), saying the firm had failed to show it was not linked to the forest fires in Indonesia that have blanketed the city state in a thick smog. NTUC FairPrice, run by the local trade union, said it had made its decision after the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) decided to suspended its green certification for APP's paper products. The non-governmental group is running a campaign to raise consumer awareness about the causes of the smog, which has triggered a public outcry in Singapore and demands to find the culprits behind the forest fires. The SEC said APP, a member of Indonesia's Sinar Mas group and a major supplier of paper, pulp and packaging in Asia, had failed to show it was using sustainable materials. APP, however, said it had given Singapore's National Environment Agency information about its subsidiaries and suppliers, as requested by the agency last month. "APP is committed to working closely with stakeholders including the NEA, the Singapore Environment Council and others to address the causes of forest fire," Aida Greenbury, the Indonesia-based managing director of sustainability at the company told Reuters. Timber, paper and pulp and oil palm industries have been blamed for the fires in Indonesia's Kalimantan and Sumatra islands, which send choking smoke across to Singapore and Malaysia every year, forcing schools and airports to shut down and raising health concerns. (Reporting by Rujun Shen in SINGAPORE and Michael Taylor in JAKARTA; Editing by Miral Fahmy)