Statement by Lapeyre

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain
28 September 2000

LAPEYRE TIGHTENS CONTROL OVER ITS WOOD SUPPLIES

The Lapeyre Group has initiated a new action plan designed to speed up the
development of its supply policies so as to achieve better protection of the
forest ecosystem.

To ensure the protection of forests, supplies must come from either cultivated
forests or natural forests that are certified, this means forests that are part
of a long-term sustainable program.

This involves setting up, in various countries where they do not exist,
certification organizations that are recognized in terms of their expertise and
authority by the various players in the wood industry: public authorities,
technical organizations, non-governmental organizations (Greenpeace, WWF,
Friends of the Earth, etc.), professional bodies, etc.

The Lapeyre Group is fully committed to taking an active part in the
certification process.  All wood used by the Group will be sourced exclusively
from man made forests or forests that have been certified - as soon as
independant and identifiable certification organizations have been set up in the
areas where they do not exist - and in any case, within a maximum of 5 years.

It is in this context that, in Brazil, the Lapeyre Group has already joined the
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), a group of certified wood purchasers,
established under the aegis of Friends of the Earth.

Moreover, Lapeyre is currently strengthening its communications strategy so that
clients are informed of the origin of the woods used.  In the shops, a labeling
system indicates on each product the species used and its origin.  In the sales
catalog for France, (6 million copies printed) and in the various international
editions of the same, LAPEYRE also identifies for all products using wood the
name and the origin of the wood used.

September 28th, 2000

LAPEYRE - Investor Relations
Patrick MALLET
Tel: [phone] - Fax: [phone]