The company, part of International Timber, said its decision follows a report “Behind the Veneer” by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Indonesian partner group Telepak, which claim merbau is illegally sourced from the Papua Province of Indonesia.
“Recent environmental issues in Indonesia have focused our attention on merbau in particular and this is part of the Bruce range which we exclusively distribute in the UK,” said Steve Rickers, IDS supply chain director.
“In response to these concerns, we have withdrawn all the merbau solid wood flooring from our purchasing list.”
A number of UK companies have suspended merbau sales since the EIA/Telepak report, including Travis Perkins and Jewson. Both companies had not stocked the product but had supplied small amounts on a request basis.
Both Junckers Ltd, Kährs UK and John Lewis are investigating the groups’s claims.
