In May 2004, Stora Enso was the subject of inspections carried out by the European Commission as well as by the Finnish Competition Authority at various locations in Europe. At the same time, Stora Enso received subpoenas issued by the US Department of Justice as part of preliminary anti-trust investigations in Europe and the USA. The investigations relate to Fine Paper in Europe, Publication Paper in Europe, Magazine Paper in the USA, the purchase of recovered paper in Germany and the purchase of wood in Finland. In both Europe and the USA the investigations by the authorities are at a fact-finding stage only, and no formal allegations have been made against the Group or any of its employees.

Consistent with its longstanding competition compliance policy, Stora Enso is treating these issues seriously, and has appointed the law firms of Van Bael & Bellis in Brussels and Sivenius & Suvanto in Helsinki to represent the Group in Europe and Finland respectively. In the USA, the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery is assisting the Group in preparing responses to the authorities. Coincident with these investigations, Stora Enso has been named in a number of class action lawsuits filed in the USA. Investigations by the Competition Authorities can take a long time, and Stora Enso cannot yet estimate when these investigations will be concluded.

The latest version of Stora Enso’s Competition Law Compliance Programme, based on previous Enso, Stora and Consolidated Paper policies, was launched in 2002. The programme clearly states Stora Enso’s support of free and fair competition and Stora Enso’s commitment to comply with competition laws. This commitment is also an integral part of Stora Enso’s new Code of Ethics. Stora Enso is taking, and has continuously taken action to implement these compliance measures.