Kingfisher is one of over 60 other timber-related businesses and seven trade federations urging the European Commission to get tougher over illegal timber sourcing.
They say that not only does illegal logging "pose a significant threat to global forest resources, it also contributes to deforestation, causes loss of biodiversity and erodes the rule of law".

The signatories to the statement want to secure measures to make the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) - designed to keep illegally-sourced timber out of the marketplace - fully effective across the European Union. They are demanding that sufficient resources are made available to enforce the regulation consistently across the EU and a coherent approach towards its interpretation.

Currently, the EUTR does not include items such as chairs, toys, books, musical instruments, charcoal, wine racks, clothes pegs, and many more.

The WWF charity has been working to raise awareness of the further measures needed to make the EUTR fully effective, and welcomes the industry support.

Anke Schulmeister, senior forest policy officer at WWF's European Policy Office, said: "We are pleased to see...the drive for the law to include all products that could be made using illegal timber. Currently less than half (by value) of the products entering the EU are covered by the EUTR.

"Deforestation and habitat destruction continues, and illegal timber can end up in our books, toys and chairs. We must act now, during this review of the laws, to ensure we protect our forests."

A survey by WWF shows that 85% of consumers across Europe, including the UK, also support better laws on the legality of wood products. A similar number want the EU to implement the law more consistently across EU nations, and 78% think the laws should cover all wood-based products.

Supporting the move to eradicate illegal logging, B&Q and Screwfix parent Kingfisher said: "Timber is an essential raw material for our business, used in up to 40% of the products we sell. All of our responsibly-sourced timber is independently audited by recognised certification schemes, like FSC and PEFC.

"We've reached 92% responsibly-sourced timber in the products we sell and we're working towards 100%."