Supermarket giant Tesco faces censure from the WWF 95+ Group after admitting to selling garden furniture claimed to be made from illegal Indonesian timber.

Investigations by Friends of the Earth revealed that the company had bought furniture manufactured in Vietnam but made from logs imported from Indonesia.

The environmental group said it had been illegal to export Indonesian logs since October 2001 when the Indonesian government introduced a log export ban in a bid to control escalating levels of illegal logging.

Tesco external communications manager John Church said: “We accept that the traceability of the timber for the garden furniture in our stores has not been as good as it might have been. We can’t actually be sure where the timber came from but I don’t think it can categorically be said that it was from illegal sources.

“We are working towards improving things and are working with the Tropical Forest Trust and getting our supplier in Vietnam to make sure the furniture range is made from sustainable sources and that they know exactly where the timber is from.

&#8220We are a very small player in this market which is new to us and it is a Case of hands up, we haven’t done as well as we could have”

Tesco external communications manager John Church

“We are a very small player in this market which is new to us and it is a case of hands up, we haven’t done as well as we could have.”

WWF 95+ Group manager Rachel Hembery confirmed to TTJ that she would be meeting Tesco to discuss the current situation.

The WWF 95+ Group recently tightened up its membership requirements and any member that cannot meet the stricter criteria will not be allowed to stay in the group.