Bowater Southeastern Woodlands Certified to the SFI Program.

Business Editors

GREENVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2003

Bowater Incorporated (NYSE: BOW) today announced certification for 471,000 acres of its timberlands in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee and the company's southeastern wood procurement systems to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative(R) (SFI) program Standard. An audit, conducted by KPMG Performance Registrar Incorporated, confirmed that Bowater's timberlands meet the requirements of the SFI(R) program for forest management activities and wood purchasing procedures in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner.

Richard K. Hamilton, President of Bowater's Forest Products Division said, "The SFI certification by an independent outside auditing firm demonstrates to both the public and our customers that we are providing quality forest products while also protecting the forest resource for the future."

The SFI(R) program is a comprehensive system that combines the growing and harvesting of trees with the protection of wildlife, plants, soil and water quality. An independent multi-stakeholder Sustainable Forestry Board manages the SFI(R) program. Currently, 115 million acres of forestland in the U.S. and Canada are enrolled in the SFI(R) program. Seventy million of these acres have been certified by third party auditor.

Bowater Incorporated, headquartered in Greenville, SC, is a global leader in newsprint. In addition, the company makes coated and uncoated groundwood papers, bleached kraft pulp and lumber products. The company has 12 pulp and paper mills in the United States, Canada and South Korea and 13 North American sawmills that produce softwood and hardwood lumber. Bowater also operates two facilities that convert a groundwood base sheet to coated products. Bowater's operations are supported by approximately 1.5 million acres of timberlands owned or leased in the United States and Canada and 32 million acres of timber cutting rights in Canada. Bowater is one of the world's largest consumers of recycled newspapers and magazines. Bowater common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, U.S. regional exchanges and the London Stock Exchange. A special class of stock exchangeable into Bowater common stock is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE: BWX).