From The Age (Australia): MAJOR hardware and furniture retailers are campaigning against the Federal Government for going weak on election commitments to ban illegal timber imports.

The coalition, including IKEA, Bunnings, Fantastic Furniture, Danks Hardware and Simmonds Lumber has called on the Government to enact its 2007 election policy to strictly monitor and restrict the importation of illegally logged timber. The retailers have joined a campaign organised by Greenpeace and launched by TV personality Jamie Durie in Sydney yesterday.

The Governments 2007 election policy stated it would implement measures to identify illegally logged timber and restrict its importation into Australia and "require disclosure at point of sale of species, country of origin and any certification".

A 2004 government study found that 11 per cent of timber, worth $400 million, imported into Australia had been logged illegally, and that it came mainly from regional neighbours such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Paul Elsmore, chief executive of Simmonds Lumber, told The Age from Indonesia he was disappointed the Government had not kept its promise.

Mr Elsmore said Simmonds Lumber had spent a lot of money over 10 years to develop a DNA tracking system to ensure timber that it buys from Indonesia is logged legally.

Greenpeace campaigns director Stephen Campbell said the Government had been "dragging its feet" on timber legislation.

In February, The Age revealed that senior members of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were "seriously agitating" for a voluntary program based on the existing regime, rather than the Governments election commitment.

Forestry Minister Tony Burke commissioned the Centre for International Economic Studies to develop a regulatory impact statement on illegal logging import restrictions.

That report said stricter legislation could create problems under international trade obligations.