The order comes as research into the furniture retailing sector by the country’s Green Party showed the need for all imported timber and timber products to be certified legally and sustainably logged.
The government measures are designed to clamp down on illegal logging in the Pacific region, which is costing the country billions of dollars.
Forestry minister Jim Anderton said cheaper imports of illegally logged timber products were hurting manufacturers of goods from New Zealand’s indigenous timber, such as beech.
Mr Anderton said he wanted New Zealand to lead by example to ensure other governments take action against illegal logging.
Meanwhile, co-leader of the Green Party Jeanette Fitzsimmons said party volunteers visited 26 retailers around the country to find out whether customers were fully informed about the origin of the timber used in furniture.
“We were disappointed to find that, while 12 claimed the timber was sustainably logged, only three actually had the documentation to prove it,” she said.
“It was also disappointing to find that 10 retailers did not even know whether the timber was sustainably or legally harvested.”
She welcomed the government’s announcement, but said that it was disappointing that it will not prevent the timber from actually entering the country.
“If the government can get the information to require all timber used in its buildings to be from legally harvested forests, then it can apply the same information to entry at the border for all timber,” she added.
