EVERYDAY objects from chairs and books to guitars and garden tools are not covered by laws to ensure wood is legally sourced, campaigners have warned.
Environmental charity WWF is campaigning to close loopholes in European legislation that mean less than half of timber products coming into the EU are from confirmed legal sources.
The campaign is being backed by major retailers and companies ranging from Argos to Homebase and Tesco, which have signed up to a pledge to ensure all their wood is legally and sustainably sourced by 2020.
WWF warns that illegal and unsustainable logging is contributing to deforestation and damage to habitats across some of the most important forest regions ranging from Russia's Far East to Central Africa.
EU rules have been brought in to require companies to ensure their wood or products come from legal sources, meeting the laws governing forestry in the country of origin.
But because there are so many exemptions to the rules - for example, empty picture frames are covered while frames with pictures in them are not - the UK public could be unwittingly buying illegally sourced wood, WWF said.
The Government previously made a commitment to make it a criminal offence in the UK to import or possess illegal timber, WWF said.
In 2015, the EU timber regulation is being reviewed. WWF and the campaign's supporters are calling on the Government to demand the EU tightens the rules.
Julia Young, WWF global forest and trade network manager, said: "The businesses signing up know this and are taking action to ensure a future for our forests. It's time for the Government to make good on its promises to do the same."
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